Monster
by SomeoftheFame
Summary: Real monsters live inside us is a lesson Ino will learn quickly as she falls for a boy with a terrible secret. (Formerly Constellation Love (Being rewritten as of 7/18/14))
1. Chapter One

**Disclaimer:** All credit for the Naruto franchise and its characters go to Masashi Kishimoto.

**Notes:** This is an alternate universe story that takes place after Tsunade takes office, but prior to what would be the start of shippuuden.  
>Originally beta'd by BonesxBreak<p>

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><p><strong>Constellation Love - Chapter One<strong>

"_Each moment of a happy lover's hour is worth an age of dull and common life." -Aphra Behn_

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><p>Yamanaka Ino tapped her fingers against her desktop while the instructor droned on at the front of the room. Umino Iruka had been lecturing the class for the better part of an hour and somewhere along the way Ino drifted out of focus and was barely hearing him over the bubbling anticipation of the lesson being over. Iruka's words had flowed, without pause, in one ear and out the other.<p>

A wandering mind was something new to Ino, she hadn't earned the highest scores of her class by daydreaming after all, but since Konoha had started their new training system things had gotten stale. The program involved a merger between villages, where the curriculum was combined into one to help build better rapport between villages. The result was two villages, on two different wavelengths of education being forced to restart the lesson plans to ensure everyone was on the same page. Each day she became more and more distant from the lessons and it had gotten to the point that she wondered why she even bothered showing up. The previous week she sat through a three-hour long discussion on the invention of the shuriken and its uses.

The crescendo of pages rustling and chair legs scraping against the floor yanked Ino out of her thoughts. "What's going on?" she asked flatly.

"Hand sign speed tests." Akimichi Choji answered as he squirmed out of his seat.

A woodsy scent met her nose as Nara Shikamaru walked down the steps to her left. "Again." he groaned.

With a heavy sigh she scooted out of her seat. "Oh man." She was growing tired of these; they did them nearly every day for the past few months.

Scanning the room, she searched for a partner. She would take on one of her teammates, but Choji and Shikamaru always teamed up together. After them billboard brow was her next choice, but the flake was absent.

She needed to pick someone she could beat. The objective in speed tests, obviously, was to be fast. They would complete a series of hand signs and whoever got through them all correctly, and the fastest, won. There wasn't an actual prize, other than being able to leave class early. But that was sounding about as good as a free meal or winning the lottery about now.

Making her way into aisle she continued to scan the room. Her trip back from daydreaming was costing her choices. Naruto had partnered with Kiba and most of the others viable choices were pairing up as well. Before long she would be forced to pair up with a sand ninja.

Aside from the importance of being able to form hand signs faster than your opponent, the point of doing these tests were to get the students to work together in pairs. However, neither village wanted to work with anyone from the other. There was nothing wrong then the sand ninja, per say, but Konoha ninja paired up with Konoha ninja, and the same applied for Suna. So when someone from each village was forced into a pair it was an awkward match neither could wait to be free of.

Although most of the students from Sunagakure didn't catch Ino's attention, there was one she found herseld drawn to. A genin named Gaara.

Bounding down the steps to the front of the class Ino thought about how everyone seemed to shirk away from Gaara. Even his own siblings seemed to keep their distance. As Ino crossed over a line of tables her eyes fell on the two ninja in question. Temari, the sister, a wind-style user with a large black fan strapped to her back, and the brother, Kankuro, a puppet-master, were paired up and had already started their tests on the opposite side of the room from their brother.

As Ino reached Gaara she tapped her nails against the table he was sitting behind. "Do you want to be my partner?" she asked swiftly.

Gaara's had his hands up to his face, fingers laced. Whether he had been focusing on the instructions Iruka wrote on the board Ino couldn't tell. His features didn't change after hearing her question.

"The hand sign assignment." Ino closed her eyes and gave a slightly nervous laugh, bringing one of her hands to rub the back of her head. She turned and threw her other arm out, pointing to the guidelines Iruka had written across the expansive blackboard. "We have to practice those signs and whoever finishes first is the winner." Ino wasn't sure if she sounded too eager wanting to participate in the exercise or if she sounded desperate to work with Gaara. "Weren't you paying attention?" She gave a nervous laugh as her voice began to squeak when she spoke now.

While he eyed over the instructions Ino examined his features. His pale skin, surrounded by a mop of short fiery hair. His eyes, deep and commanding, surrounded by deep dark circles. But the kanji on his forehead was perhaps one of the most appealing things about him. Love.

"Ino."

She was still admiring his features when she heard his voice. So gravely cold, but so powerful, so marvelous she wanted to get lost within its range. Ino couldn't help but to let her smile escape while she became intoxicated by his beauty and his sound. Ino had heard him call for her, but she was too far gone to conceive a response.

She'd be lying to herself if she said she didn't find him somewhat attractive. Part of her attraction to him was that she felt as if he had no one. Since coming into Konoha she'd watched everyone alienate him. She dismissed it as merely shying away from the new ninjas, but even seeing Temari and Kankuro keep their distance upset her.

At first she merely admired from a far, she was still weighing her options with Sasuke and didn't want the Uchiha to get the wrong impression. But after billboard brow got teamed up with him she began seeing her chances with him slip away. That was when Gaara became her main focus, she wanted to be his one and only; to be the one he would depend on.

"Ino."

A sudden change in his voice made Ino snap back to the present. Gaara seemed upset or irritated. Ino felt as it if she'd failed before even trying to begin.

"Sorry, I was just – thinking about the seals." She spat out her response slowly.

"Let's get started." Gaara said and slowly rose to his feet.

She turned back to the board for another look at their assignment. "The first hand signs we have to do are Ox, Rabbit, Ox, Rat, and Monkey."

Ino and Gaara moved their hands in front of their bodies and stared each other down with a sudden intensity.

"Go."

Gaara's voice caught Ino off guard, causing her to lose focus; Gaara finished the five sign combination before Ino had begun to move her hands for the first.

"C–Can we try another one?" She spoke with an almost pathetic sense of defeat.

"Rat, Tiger, Ox, Rabbit, Boar, Monkey, and Tiger."

"Is that the next one?" Ino asked and turned to look at the board.

"Go."

Ino jumped. "Wait!" She closed her eyes for a quick moment to visualize the hand motions and instantly began to curl and move her fingers and hands to form the appropriate signs. She opened her eyes as she was nearing the end of the chain in doing so she raised her gaze to notice Gaara's motionless stance.

"You, you're not done are you?" She gulped down hard and dropped her hands to her side in defeat. "I'm still too slow."

"You're not slow, you're just not focused." Gaara said. "In battle there is no room for mistakes or absent mindedness, mistakes will get you killed."

As dark as it was, Ino managed to find an air of comfort in his words. He hadn't patronized her like Sasuke might have, or rubbed it in her face like Sakura. It was the truth.

"Thanks, Gaara." A childish grin spread across her face as she let out a bubbly giggle.

Gaara opened his eyes slightly at the feminine action. Having not spent much time around humans limited his exposure with females, he wasn't entirely comfortable with everything they did.

"Would you mind helping me work on my timing with the seals?" She composed herself from the girlish flirting fit to focus on the real goal.

"If you insist." Gaara closed his eyes momentarily before returning them to their original content position.

"Great!" Ino clasped her hands together in front of her face. "Why don't we meet up outside Ichiraku's later?"

"Fine." Gaara grabbed the back of his chair and shoved it inwards under the table. "I'll be waiting." He turned and slowly began to walk down the aisle towards the center.

Ino brought her hands to her chest and sighed happily. "Score!"

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><p>After Ino left the classroom she made her way back through the village on auto-pilot. The only thing on her mind was meeting up with Gaara later.<p>

When she made it back to her home she hurried up the steps to her room, dumping all of her academy supplies onto her bed. She plopped herself down on a small chair placed in front of her vanity.

"I'm so excited to hang out with Gaara!" She gave singing her sentence the best try she could manage, but ultimately ended up sounding like a squeaky child. She curled her fingers around a white hair brush that was lying sideways on the dresser and began to run it through her blonde hair. She took hold of her long pony tail and brought it forward over her shoulder while she brushed down its length. She smiled sweetly up at herself in the mirror as an image of Gaara formed behind her smiling.

"He's different, from him, but different is good." She said as she set the brush back down on the dresser and flipped it gracefully over her shoulder.

It was a short distance from her house to the agreed upon meeting spot she didn't feel nervous; however, her body disagreed. Her palms began to sweat the moment she left her house and the butterflies in her stomach wouldn't rest.

She continued on her walk until she turned the corner of a building and noticed the paper lanterns hanging from the roof of the ramen shop. She reluctantly turned her head to get a view full of the shop and its surroundings, the butterflies only flew more rapidly when she got a glimpse of Gaara standing stiffly in front of the building.

"Hey, Gaara, I'm here." She tripped over her feet as she attempted to move towards her classmate causing her to stumble.

Gaara opened his eyes slowly and lifted his head to get a view of the girl.

"Glad you made it." She smiled weakly, feeling as if she would be the only one contributing to this conversation.

"This is not an ideal place to train." His cold voice was the same as ever, but Ino felt as if there was something deeper behind it. Gaara sighed and threw a look over his shoulder into the shop.

Ino knew that this would be a rather crowded area and she wanted that, she had no real intention of training with Gaara on hand seals; this was Konoha's number one date spot for a reason.

She placed her hand on her chin in an effort to look as if she was concentrating, but really it was to contain her ever-growing grin. "Weren't the Suna students given residential apartments to live in while this program was going on?"

Gaara's gaze changed. He was observing the masses of academy students running amuck around the area before he locked his eyes on Ino. "Are you saying we should practice at my house?" It was a simple question, but to Ino it sounded almost like a threat.

"Well... It was a suggestion; but we could also go to my place." She pretended to keep her gaze focused downwards, but couldn't help but look at Gaara to see how her latest suggestion was sitting with him. His expression hadn't changed. "Or we could try and find an empty training field."

Gaara started moving and was past her before he verbally acknowledged her final choice. "Let's go."

Ino blinked a few times, for some reason she hadn't noticed Gaara's movement at all and was surprised when she turned to see him heading off from the shop. "W–Well hold on, wait for me!" She spun around and trotted after her classmate on their way to the field.

Ino followed Gaara through the village while giving instructions and directions on shortcuts out of the suburban area and to the training field.

The field was a wide open grassland with trees planted around the area, not interfering with the main scene. There were three thick tree logs stuck into the ground side by side by side. They headed in towards the middle of the field, barren of grass from the years of constant trampling, and paused in front of the logs.

Ino turned around looking over the area that she was familiar with. "Early stages of the Chunin exams and other training exercises are held here."

Gaara dragged his feet across the ground, sending up trails of dirt behind him. "Let's begin."

The genin began their training session of hand seal combinations and speed early, when the sun was high. They continued on through the day and afternoon until it was almost an automatic response.

Gaara had written out a sequence of hand seals in the dirt that they would run through every time the winner of the previous set yelled _go_.

The first was the entire list of seals from start to finish. The second was the entire list backwards, and from there the list continued on to include all combinations possible with the given seals. There was hardly a break given in between each command of go; after so long of repeating commands their arms and hands moved almost automatically. There was no second guessing which command was which or which seal needed to be formed next.

Starting out, Gaara was the victor every time, but after repeating the same moves over and over again Ino's speed increased. Performing the seals was becoming an instinct rather than a thought. She was able to keep up and soon finish faster than Gaara, often becoming the one to yell their starting command.

By the time the sun was low, casting an orange glow across the sky, their reactions to the starting command had delayed by several seconds, definite indicators of their exhaustion.

Ino hunched over, placing her hands on her knees, while she took heavy slow breaths she spoke with a dry mouth. "Gaara, can we stop for today, my arms are so sore."

The constant movement and adrenaline was keeping them from realizing how tired and sore they truly were. As their speed slowed, their unintentional breaks between commands grew longer and gave their bodies time to realize how hard they had been working.

Gaara's breaths were similar to Ino's, he leaned against the nearest tree log while he watched her, sweat dropping off from the ends of his hair and onto the ground.

"Fine." He turned to his back and rested against the upright log as he slowly slid down until his body ground. His eyes fell on his sand gourd sitting a few feet away. It was at Ino's suggestion he removed it. He protested at first, but was thankful now, the added weight would have been awful.

Ino straightened up for a moment before lowering herself down to the ground. She took in one large breath and exhaled off the side, avoiding blowing it in Gaara's direction.

"Thanks for practicing with me, Gaara." Even though a day sweating in the middle of the training field, performing hand seals, and yelling go wasn't what she had in mind, she felt grateful to spend any time with him at all. "I'm sure it'll help."

_Help bring us together._

Gaara accepted her gratitude with a simple nod while he caught his breath. Ino moved her feet outwards and dug the backs of her shoes into the ground, pulling herself closer to Gaara with this motion after repeating it several times. Gaara opened his eyes while Ino moved closer and eyed her suspiciously. He adjusted his posture and sat up straight against the log as he continued to observe her.

She moved closer and until she reached her destination, next to Gaara. She pushed off the ground and moved her body around so that she could learn against the log along with him. While Gaara's puzzled face remained on her, Ino looked upwards to the sky, noticing the first bright stars in the night.

Ino closed her eyes and gave a slight chuckle after a brief period of star gazing.

"What is it?" Gaara turned his head upwards to the sky in hopes to see what was worth the laugh.

"Oh nothing, just one of the star groups up there reminded me of something I had seen." Ino opened her eyes slowly and turned her focus to Gaara.

"Groups of stars that resemble something are called a constellation." Gaara squinted and looked for what she might have seen.

Ino placed her hand gently against Gaara's forehead, moving it upwards causing his hair to be lifted from his forehead exposing the skin.

"What are you doing?" His brow line furrowed slightly from the unexpected touch.

Ino smiled and rubbed her thumb against the kanji on his forehead, something she'd wanted to do for the longest. To know whether it was a permanent mark, or something he drew on each day. Her pleasure in seeing it wasn't going to rub off was interrupted as the sand struck her.


	2. Chapter Two

**Disclaimer:** All credit for the creation of the Naruto franchise goes to Masashi Kishimoto.  
>I do not own any of the characters.<p>

**Notes:** Reviews would be greatly appreciated and helpful.

**T**hank you so much for reading, it really means a lot, thank you to those who added this to their favorites, reviewed, and subscribed.

**S**o with all those notes out of the way enjoy!

**I** post new chapters every Tuesday.

Beta'd By BonesxBreak

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><p><strong>Constellation Love<strong>

Chapter Two-Lonely Road

_"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than a sincere ignorance and a conscientious stupidity." -Martin Luther King Jr.  
><em>

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><p>Gaara's eyes opened wide, the dark marks that traveled in circles around his eyes stretching as an urgent tingling sensation surged through his forehead.<p>

_What the hell is her problem?_

Gaara coiled his fingers inward slightly and stabbed his right hand out at Ino, sand from his stationed gourd emerging automatically. He brought his fingers in and bawled his hand up, his sand following a command code as sacred as Gaara's life itself, before she could block. The sand crashed into her ribcage and what hadn't knocked her over was spreading around her frame sending her skidding backwards across the field. Gaara rose to his feet, keeping his arm outstretched while his sand continued to act to protect, slowly burying the downed kunoichi as more of the minerals piled onto her. Gaara's eye twitched as his connection with his sand allowed him to feel the panic within Ino, he tightened his fist as the concentration of sand grew denser. Ino released a horrid screech of pain as the sand curled around her body, forming an infrangible hold on her figure. At the sound of her scream something clicked within Gaara, slowly he released his fist and allowed his fingers to spread outwards, the sand shifting with his newest movement. Slowly the body cast that was forming to Ino was loosening itself and moving away from her body, Gaara quickly brought his fingers in once more to quickly fling those outwards again as the remaining sand seemed to fly off Ino's body.

Ino managed to crawl to the closest tree log and press her body against it while she caught her breath. Gaara mimicked Ino with his loss of air, his arm and hand still in their previous position the sand slithered across the ground until it formed a circle around his legs. His wild eyes darted back side to side with no real target of focus before he came to realize what he had done.

Ino curled into a ball next to the log and clutched her right arm, blood running down its length, seeping through her fingers and staining her clothes. Gaara slid his feet through the sand ahead of him slowly managing to move his body towards Ino, as he moved closer his heart began to beat louder with each passing step.

"I-Ino?" He could tell what happened, his sand had gotten a taste of it, and so did he.

It was Ino's blood.

Ino rotated her attention from her wound to the approaching figure, with panicking eyes she slammed her shoulder into the log, using it to give herself leverage something to push off of. With what strength she could muster she propelled herself off from the log, stumbling over she attempted to acquire her balance now that she had her legs under her. To no avail she managed to take a few striking steps away from Gaara before crashing down onto the ground once more.

"Ino please wait, it was an accident, and you took me by surprise!" Gaara realized the situation and threw his hand out to her in an attempt to help her." Ino shook at the sight of Gaara's sudden movement and released her hold of her injured arm, she slammed her bloody palm down on the ground finding it as another tool of balance she sprung to her feet and began to take large wavy steps off to the exit opening of the field.

"Ino please wait!" Gaara turned to follow Ino's movement his sand rising from its resting place a few feet away only for Gaara to drop his hands, causing his sand to follow his silent instruction, falling back to the earth. Ino continued her crazed gait until she was sure she was out of his sight. Slamming her back against a tree she began to breathe as if air were news to her.

She clutched her arm again, careful to keep her dirtied palm from touching the open sore, the blood was covering her arm now and wasn't showing any signs of stopping. The bandage-like material she wrapped her abdomen in on a daily basis, was now a crimson red, the damaged arm hung limp at her side, blood drops escaping from all of her finger tips creating a slight pattern on the grassy terrain. She tilted her head back enough until it met the abrasive bark of the tree trunk, slowly her eyes closed on their own will. She hadn't realized how truly tired she was, but now it was becoming distressingly obvious.

One thing she learned from Lady Tsunade was adrenaline, and how it applies in a battle or any fight or flight situation. Ino was already tired from her intense practice session with _Gaara_, after sitting down and relaxing her body began to function at its normal pace, her heart beat returning to normal as well as her adrenaline levels.

And once she was _attacked_, she feared for her life, she was feeling too many things to act on any of them in an effective way. Her body was ready to enter the flight mode to save her life, but her low stamina left her with little vigor to do much other than her stupefied escape plan.

As she gave her body a chance to recover her mind began to eat all of the information that she was feeding it and transforming it on its will.

_I was attacked, Gaara attacked me, he tried to kill me. Gaara tried to kill me, he attacked me. Gaara made me feel-_

Her thought cut off directly as his image in her mind caused more emotions that she had ever experienced in her life. Her wound filled her with a throbbing sting that refused to let her be, her eyes filled with tears, whether they be of sadness or anger she couldn't tell, but she knew they felt appropriate. She held her eyes closed tight in an effort to gather any chakra at all to put into her hand to heal her arm to the best of her abilities. Her basic training with Lady Tsunade had left her with the minute ability to heal individuals, human or not. But she didn't feel strong enough to help herself at all. She clutched her arm in another failed attempt to gather the needed energy.

She opened her mouth letting out a quick huff of air following by the severe consumption of it, she dropped her arm to her other side, blood smearing across her headband. Blood still leaking from her wound she began to feel light headed, her legs were failing her and fast. Her knees buckled underneath her and her back scratched against the tree as she tried any endeavor to keep herself standing. And then she heard it, his voice, thriving through the trees, he was coming back to finish her. She opened her eyes as the image of the wooded area surrounding her flooded her brain with its blurry and tilting ways.

Ino took off once more, where she found the energy to pull off such a feat was beyond her, but running was all she could do at the moment. During her dash through the vegetation she began to feel slightly authorized and gave her rudimentary healing another chance with success. She began to feel the perpetual pain in her arm diminish as she continued to move through the forest. She didn't know where she was heading, and as her mind had time to think more about the scene she wondered if she had any reason to run at all.

Ino dismissed any doubtful thoughts about her life being in danger as she continued to trek through the woods pausing every so often to catch her breath, but inevitably started again when she began to feel the effects of her enfeeblement creeping up to her. As the night grew colder, the refreshing chill was replaced by frigid gusts of air that ran violently through the forest. The cold wasn't all Ino was concerned about; there was the ever-growing darkness that came with the nights of Konoha. She never dared to stop to rest, for fear of Gaara's baleful hand, but as time moved on Ino's breaks started to become longer, it took her longer to get started running again and when she did she didn't last for long.

She began to wonder how she had managed to get so lost, there was absolutely no way it would take so long to get from the field to the main area of the village. She slumped against a tree again and began to think about which direction she had taken off in after escaping from Gaara. The day began to take its toll on her, her fatigue, her hunger, her thirst, her injury, they were all sending her into a spin, one in which her mind wandered to numerous ideas and made her see things she knew couldn't be true. Ino had decided to give her body the rest it was so desperately craving from her, she threw her feet out in front of her, and slid down the tree trunk until she felt the cool ground underneath her, she let out a sigh of relief and pleasure at the thought of slumber.

-F-

Ino woke with no sense of how long she had been sleeping, all she knew was that she felt terrible. Her entire body was sore, but where it hurt the most was her arm. Through her time in the forest, running, she applied medical aid to her wound, stopping the blood flow and managing to close the gash. All the same a large bruise formed in her sleep and left the entire area looking disgusting. A vertical line ran from above Ino's elbow to approximately three inches below her shoulder, it was about an inch and a half wide. The skin surrounding it had turned a bright red, this area burned the most and Gaara's sand had left patterns of bumps in the area. The mark itself was a deep red colour, almost purple, and throbbed with every move Ino made with that arm. Slowly she lifted her head back to get a clear view of the area, it was still late, or perhaps very early. Ino raised her eyes to give guessing the time by looking at the sky a try, she strained her eyes, and there were still stars brightly visible in the sky.

_It must still be evening or at least early morning._

Ino gave off a snort of air and shook her head while she continued to watch the sky.

"So much for constellation love huh?" She spoke with an almost bitterness, her stars were nowhere to be found and she was on the run for her life by someone she admired.

Ino's sky time telling practice was interrupted by the rustling of leaves in a line of bushes adjacent to her, she dropped her focus to the spot the disruption was emitting from, with her good arm she reached down her leg, poking her index finger into her kunai holder, slipping it into the hole at the bottom of the handle she quickly whipped out her weapon for safety. She still felt extremely weak, but she could put up a fight if she had to. Regardless of how heavy the kunai was in her hand she refused to drop it for the sake of her own life, she focused her attention on the bushes, trying to see through them to find what was making the noise. The rustling began to concentrate on a single section in the bushes and Ino squinted in every attempt to see what was behind the noise. Ino groaned a moment; she was almost too tired to speak.

"Whoever you are, just get out here and stop hiding." She clutched the kunai's hold tighter, ready for anything.

The movement in the bushes became more rapid and focused; Ino's kunai shook along with her hand as if it were a part of her body. She focused to the best of her ability, the haze in her mind from her nap still lingering, she managed to make out an almost pale circle that filled the small opening in the bushes. Inside the circle was another one, this time black, following by white, and in the center of it all was a green sphere. Ino watched cautiously as the shapes she made out began to move in unison, she followed it as best she could until her vision became blurred. The shapes fell in and out of focus, at times duplicating them side by side and making an almost vibrating-like effect when they did so. The kunai that was previously attached to her being, fell a short drop to the ground and clunked over to its side; Ino dropped her head almost by force to glance down at it, her fingers twitched when she made an effort to reach for her fallen weapon. After her failed attempt she slowly lifted her heavy head back up to its spot to observe the shapes again.

_They're gone._

Ino tried to focus her best on the spot she had seen them but there was nothing but darkness now, she dropped her head back bumping it against the tree trunk when a figure standing within the bushes caught her eye. The lower half of their body was covered by the bushes and their torso was partially concealed by low hanging branches covered in leaves. All that Ino could make out was their head, as her eye lids grew heavy her head bobbed from side to side, the image of the figure moving in and out of vision. In every chance to look she got she tried to focus on what she could see and made the connection. The shapes she had seen in the bushes, the moving sphere, there were two of them now, placed atop this shrouded figure. These two matching spheres were placed perfectly on this persons face, and those spheres were eyes, eyes filled with anger, anger focused solely on Ino. She was too numb to feel terror, she felt nothing at all, not even her head colliding with the ground or the bruise on her arm being buffeted against the ground.

With each blink Ino took, it seemed a lifetime passed, and every time she had the strength to open her eyes something was different. At first, she was watching an empty spot around her, next she was staring at the shoes of someone unfamiliar, followed by the same feet, coming closer and closer to her. She couldn't remember much after that, but she knew that the person who had been watching her from the bushes was coming to get her.

-F-

Ino awoke to a harsh sunlight on her tired eye lids very early, as far as she could tell. She blindly ran her weak arm across her body, gripping several spots on the quilt she was sleeping under until she found the edge; taking hold she ripped it off from her body, pain filling her body soon after. She shook from a chill of the morning and ran her hand up her slightly rough legs, feeling the bumps forming. Her muscles tensed up for a moment before she stretched them out, her legs shaking with the satisfying feeling of her early morning stretch. She blindingly opened her eyes and rolled onto her back, the extent of the sunlight becoming apparent to her conscious state.

She slowly slid her arms up the bed, her mark throbbing slightly from the gentle friction against the sheets; she lifted them above her body, carefully stretching them out. Going as far as she could before she felt the deep agony in her left arm, it felt as if someone stabbed her in her arm and had drained all of her control of it. Both of her arms fell down onto her body and lay there limply while she emitted a groan of pain, the memories of the night before flooding back to her mind. In the swarm of her recollection she managed to begin her day, swinging her legs out of bed and stumbling around the room before she romped her way to the bathroom on the same floor.

She felt her way around inside the dimly lit hallway for door frames and peered into each open room looking for the appropriate one. She'd been there before, to the bathroom, however she was wide awake, her current state was not ideal for a hunt. She continued her semi-blind search, eliminating each room until she reached the final one at the end of the hall, she stepped inside and her body tingled with the chill of the tile floor against her bare feet. She slapped her hand against the wall with the light switch and to her displeasure she flicked it up, the small room filling with a bright light, similar to the sunlight from her bedroom.

She snapped her eyes shut and stood there, every so often blinking rapidly giving her pupils a chance to adjust. When it no longer caused mental pain to be able to see, she took her first step across the space.

The room couldn't have been more than 10 feet long and 4 or 5 feet in width, there were three lights, one on the ceiling, one on the wall above the toilet and the last was in the shape of a rectangle, fitted around the mirror placed over a porcelain sink. Ino ran her fingers along the sink as it was the first object she reached on her right, followed by the toilet, across from that were two sliding doors. With one open, Ino glanced inside at the stacked towels, lined up bottles and soaps within. Ino turned her attention to the red shower curtain ahead of her, she swung her right arm out, catching an arm full of it and pulled it out of her way. She moved forward to reach into the shower and fooled around with the knobs inside the bath until they got the needed result. A hot stream of water coming down in the form of a shower flow, she reached up and pulled the shower curtain back so it covered the bath before moving to the opposite end and opening it up.

She felt her morning chills ease away as the bathroom filled with steam from her shower, while she enjoyed the heat warming her body she stepped away from the shower and to the mirror. She blinked at her own image for a few moments, and taking a step back began to observe her body, turning and learning to examine herself, with an unconscious effort she avoided turning to see the large bruise on her arm. The constant pain she felt from any action involving it would be reminder enough of it. She bit her lip as she began to lift her arms, moving her thumbs underneath her bra strap, tugging up on it gently, her chest moving with her bra. She turned and turned examining herself again, focusing on her assets in particular. Her cream coloured bra was almost a tint to match her flowing blonde locks, she leaned up in closer to the mirror and slid her hands from her shoulders down the sides of her breast and under them, cupping them in her hands she pushed up on them.

She giggled to herself for a moment and relinquished hold of herself to dab her index finger against her lips, before she ran her tongue messily over them. Using her index and thumb she cleared away any saliva by running her fingers from the bottom of her nose down the sides of her mouth; she then ran her index finger along her bottom lip and then her thumb to the top. She eyed her face intently as if she was searching for something. She pressed her hand down on the sink edge, mindful of her injury, and leaned up close to the mirror and pressed her tongue to the outside right corner of her mouth, dragging it sensually across her top lip, bringing it back inside her mouth and running it over her teeth as she pressed her lips together and puckered them, she continued to observe her features until the mirror became filled with nothing but condensation.

She dropped back down from her slightly elevated position against the sink to see the heavy steam flow rising from the shower. Ino turned away from the mirror and to the shower, grabbing hold of the curtain again, tugging it to the right to expose the shower within. A window was placed inside, with an elongated sill, a caddy in the back corner for placing a variety of items and a hook hand rail under the window to prevent slipping.

Ino stuck her hand out into the shower, catching the falling water on it, testing the temperature, and shifted to the side turning the heat up just slightly. In the process of being surrounded by the crashing and splashing water she was oblivious to the figure who had entered the room just a moment ago.

The intruder lifted their feet careful, slowly, and methodically, placing them down with the same perfectionist method, any sound that would be made by them making any movement was avoided and any excess noise was covered by the shower. They drew closer until Ino was but a reach away, a devilish grin spread across their face as Ino stood up and backed out from the shower just a sliver of air separated their frames. Ino lifted her right arm moving it back behind her, but met an unexpected block on its way, her knuckled bumped against the shoulder of her guest, she spun around instantly her eyes widening as the figure became clearly visible.

_-F_


	3. Chapter Three

**Disclaimer:** All credit for the creation of the Naruto franchise goes to Masashi Kishimoto.  
>I do not own any of the characters.<p>

**Notes:** Reviews would be greatly appreciated and helpful

**I** post new chapters every Tuesday.

**T**hanks for the reviews and subscriptions, I messaged and thanked everyone who did

* * *

><p><strong>Constellation Love<strong>

Chapter Three-Perfect Match

"_It is not sex that gives the pleasure; it is the lover." -Lady Gaga_

* * *

><p>Ino spun around and in doing so the face of the individual behind her became obvious, at the sight of him her bruise began to throb again. Before she could completely face him Gaara wrapped his arms around Ino's midriff and ironed his head against her shoulder, his lips copied along the skin directing upwards to her neck and on her jaw bone. Ino couldn't help but to smile by his demonstration of fondness, she shifted slightly in his embrace and slowly draped her arms around his neck, resting them against the soft muscle between the base of his neck and his shoulders, Gaara grinned as he lowered his hands to rest around Ino's waist.<p>

In their first unification since spending their night together Gaara and Ino stood collectively in silence, the lone dissonance being the water pulsating from the shower head, and the same water tapping against the tub floor. Moving her hand wasn't an issue, so Ino began to rub up the back of Gaara's neck and down in between his shoulder blades and with her other hand she ran her fingers through his brick red hair. In response Gaara tightened his grip on her and as their foreheads softly tapped and he closed his eyes contently.

"I love you Gaara." Ino spoke with a kindness that barely broke through the sound of the water in the scene, Gaara opened his eyes ajar.

-F-

"Honey have you seen Ino? I didn't see her come in yesterday and she isn't down for breakfast." Inoichi Yamanaka set down a case file from a subject being interrogated that had been dropped off earlier in the morning he was reading and focused his attention to his wife.

She emitted a placid hum before she turned to the center of the room, proceeding towards a table situated there carrying a pot of tea.

"I haven't seen her either, but yesterday sometime after she returned from class she mentioned she was heading out to Ichiraku's with a friend." She slowly poured the tea into two cups placed on the table, one in front of her husband and one ahead of a seat beside him. "I'm sure she was enjoying herself and got in a little late. There are no classes today, so we can let her rest right?"

Inoichi cleared his throat and nodded in agreement as he picked up his cup and stared down into the tea. "Did she mention who she was meeting?" The response came in the form of a simple shake of the head as his spouse took her seat next to him and mantled her hand around her tea cup. "I hope they're a good person."

-F-

Ino's back crashed up against the wall and a mixed cry of pain and excitement filled the room, sustained across from the sink and mirror she took the chance to take notice of her face. Filled with agony and pleasure, she held onto the neck of her partner as her other hand clawed down a diagonal route on his back. Her nails left red lines behind where they moved, soon they would transform into faint scars as the lines from the night before had done. Her attention shifted from her own structure to Gaara's, enthralled by his beauty, she took strong notice of his muscles in his upper and lower back, and from her training with Lady Tsunade she knew them as his trapezius and latissimus dorsi muscles. Ino had never felt more bonded and innocuous than she did now within his presence, within his powerful embrace she felt loved. The feeling he gave her was indescribable, heat rushed to her head every time their bodies met, causing her to shudder with an uncontrollable desire to become one with him.

"Ah, G-Gaara." Her thoughts became perceptible once one of the hands bearing her legs around his waist disappeared and showed itself again settled on her lower back, slowly inching its way higher. Shots of an all new form of electrifying sensation were sent flying through Ino's body, at this point Gaara had been in control of this situation since it started, what seemed like an eternity ago, and Ino took the opportunity of her body being supported to make a move of her own. She used his hand as a factor of assistance and began to work her hips in a circular pattern, grinding them against his, only to heighten the rapture she was experiencing.

"Ino..." His voice trailed off, buried in her neck as his teeth revealed themselves to brush against her flesh. The feeling only merged into the overall delectation occupying her mind until he proceeded to bite down on her skin, running his tongue along the flesh he had captured. Ino dropped her head to the opposite side, giving him access to whatever it was he wanted, Gaara's eyes filled with excitement that came with the pleasure he received from being in control.

It was all new to him as well, there had been only a small handful of females in Suna who had taken an interest in him, but now to have someone so enamored by him gave him the confidence to perform like this. Like an animal, like the animal within.

Gaara closed his lips around the skin he was working with, applying suction to it before opening his mouth only slightly to take the opportunity to bite down onto a bigger area, crashing his tongue against it in a hyperactive manner. Ino's mouth opened to release a shuddering gasp as her eyelids fluttered and eyes rolled back. Gaara's hand continued its dilatory movement upwards until at her upper back it met her bra strap.

His hand moved in an inexperienced way, fiddling with the strap but Ino paid him no mind. Ino enjoyed her time being bitten, and the odd feeling of her bra being tugged on gently while he messed with the latch, expecting it to last a while longer; however to her surprise the tugging motion was replaced with a gentle pressure as Gaara's hand reached to her shoulder and gripped it tightly.

Ino held onto Gaara's arm using to pull her upright and leaned back against the wall, Gaara's lips never leaving her, dropping her arms slowly and allowed the feeling of relief from Gaara's touch to cover her. Gaara removed his hand from Ino's back and forced her against the wall completely, earning a rough exhale of air from his partner before he placed both hands against her bottom. Ino took the hint and happily wrapped her legs around his waist and returned her arms latching around his neck. With one step backwards, Ino was removed from the wall and was being held up by Gaara, his lips no longer caressing her neck, but her lips now. He held her close and took several small steps before exiting the bathroom, and made a quick turn to the left entering his temporary bedroom in Konoha.

Ino's hands wandered through Gaara's hair affectionately while their lips moved in sync with one another. Occasionally they took turns being dominant, Ino taking his lips into her own or Gaara doing the same to have his way with hers. Their passion heated up the bathroom and continued to elevate once they moved to his bedroom. Gaara made his way through his room slowly, stepping through piles of their discarded clothes from the previous night, Ino only became more amorous as they proceeded.

Gaara gingerly placed Ino down on top of his bed and mounted over top her, teasing her with a few sultry kisses along her collar bone, much to Ino's excitement. Gaara elevated himself up to sit back on his legs as he straddled Ino, she quickly responded by sitting up, her lips dying for another meeting with his. Gaara latched his fingers onto her bra straps tearing them away from her shoulders, Ino shrugged her shoulders and let the straps fall down slightly, the upper half of her breasts revealed. She placed her hands along his waistline, sliding them up under his form fitting black shirt and began to run her hands upwards, taking his shirt with them exposing his abdomen.

"Come here."

There it was, the voice that from day one captivated her, the very one that she longed to be commanded by. Ino wasted no time in following with his demand. She angled her body closer to his and titled her head upwards elegantly.

Gaara smiled down at her and placed his hands on the sides of her face, angling her head upwards more as his lips hovered just out of range of where he was allowing her to reach. Her fingers trailed down his lightly sculpted stomach to the elastic of his underwear, slipping them under the lining she pulled them down as she closed her eyes, awaiting another kiss from her lover. His eyes darted side to side taking in every inch of her features he could.

"You're beautiful Ino." He spoke with an almost sadness that caused Ino's eyes to open wide at the arbitrary statement.

Her eyes filled with the beginnings of tears summoned by joy. "Now that you are my lover I have become more beautiful..."

Gaara flashed Ino the most blissful smile she'd seen in a long time before he lowered his head to place his lips to hers, they remained in this position for a while until the sound a door slamming shut was heard from downstairs. Gaara's eyes shot open with a sense of urgency, Ino had ignored the sound from below and was only focused on Gaara as her hands continued to wander underneath his underwear, her fingers running around his hips and upper thighs. Gaara released Ino's head and pressed his hands against her shoulders, applying his force behind them he slammed her down onto the bed. Her response was an unwanted cry of pain due from her arm, but she soon moved past it to smile seductively up to him, enjoying the roughness he was displaying.

Gaara turned his head in each direction, ignoring Ino's will to continue, as he spoke.

"Shit, you're not supposed to be here." He dropped his hands to the mattress and pushed off, sitting back on his legs for a moment before edging off the bed as he began to pace pondering his options.

"Is it the same reason you had me sleep in Temari's room last night? You don't want them to know about us?" The sadness had shifted to Ino's voice now; she slowly lifted herself up and readjusted her bra straps feeling slightly unwanted.

Gaara ran his hands through his hair and began to grind his teeth, his temper rising as his time ran out. "Will you just shut the fuck up and let me think?" He turned to face the bed and held a commanding hand out at her.

Ino ran her tongue over her teeth and gripped part of the blanket under her using it cover most of her body while she waited, slightly irritated by his sudden change of attitude. Gaara caught a glimpse of her motion and reached across the bed, digging his hand into the cover.

"Don't-get-comfortable!" Gaara explained to her calmly before he wrapped his hand into the blanket a bit and yanked on it with his last word, causing it shift out from her Ino but not before dragging her along with it. Turning to the side from the sudden movement she slipped off the bed and onto the floor hard, she cried out as her bruise brushed against the bed and her hip slammed onto the floor with enough force to result in a hard thud.

The noise was minimal, but Gaara panicked regardless. "The hell is your problem?" Gaara spat down at her, the blanket flying from his hand with the following aggressive motion of his limbs. Ino's focus turned from her injury to his face, her own filled with a mazed terror. "You don't belong here and yet you continue to fucking make noise like you own this house!"

Ino's eyes filled with tears as she swallowed hard readying her reply. "But you yanked the cover I was sitting on and-" She turned back to point to the bed feeling lost and the need to defend herself. When she turned back to face him she was met with a rapid slap across the face, her left cheek stinging with a pain never experienced before in her life. Her eyes stared blankly at a spot on the floor after being forced to the right from the contact; the tears no longer were being contained, but merely pouring from her eyes.

She sat there in terrified silence before she was gripped roughly by him, his fingers pressing down into her flesh with more than enough force to get her to obey. His thumb digging into the center of her bruise caused her entire arm to go numb and earned another cry of pain her. He spun her around and clasped a hand over her mouth, backing her up until her head collided with the wall.

"Stop making so much fucking noise!"

"Gaara?" Temari's voice echoed from somewhere near and Gaara's head darted towards the direction of his door.

He pressed his hand over Ino's mouth with more force as he answered his sister. "Yeah?" Ino didn't know what to think, in just a few minutes his voice had changed from one that she adored, to a harsh one that she feared with her life and now it was as calm as it was when they met at Ichirakus.

"Is someone up there?" He could hear footsteps now, two pairs; Temari and Kankuro were home from the mission assignment they were given sent here from Suna by messenger hawk.

"No, I'm just getting ready." Gaara tugged on Ino's arm and pulled her off the wall and guided her with him as he backed up across his room heading to the opposite side. He released her arm and grabbed onto a doorknob which he pulled on that revealed a small closet filled with bags and books. "Get in there and don't say a word, or else." Gaara dug his thumb into Ino's bruise with more force at the end of his sentence; her tears streaming from her eyes ran down his hand now. The footsteps were just down the hall now and Ino mumbled something from behind her human muffler. Gaara smirked for a moment and removed both of his hands from Ino before slamming them into her shoulder, the unexpected force sent Ino flying onto the closet floor within an instant. Gaara slapped his hand against the door as it shut promptly; flipping over the small lock on the knob he hurried over to the doorway that his sister soon approached.

Gaara stepped out into the hallway almost bumping into his sister who was looking down at the carpet while she walked, upon noticing Gaara her head snapped up with a surprised look.

"We just wanted to see what was going on, it sounded like you were up here talkin' to yourself." Gaara's last sibling, Kankuro spoke up from tailing behind Temari.

"No, I said I was just getting ready."

Temari glanced off to the left and frowned. "Why are the bathroom light and the shower on and no one is in there?"

"I told you I was getting ready." Gaara's anger from only a minute ago hadn't died down; only rested lightly underneath the surface, ready to show itself at any moment.

Kankuro turned around tapped his hand against a doorknob of a room across from Gaara's, the door swinging open leisurely as he strolled in. "Whatever man, just don't waste water."

"Kankuro's right," Temari turned to watch her brother leave, "Konoha was nice enough to let us live here we shouldn't abuse it." Temari crossed her arms and gazed up and down the walls before turning slowly to the end of the hall where her room was.

Gaara gave her a nod and waited until she disappeared into her room before backing up into his own, shutting the door slowly after him. He quickly locked the door, securing himself within, his eyes focused on his hand and the knob for a moment before he turned his head to the closet door.

He strolled towards the door and flipped the lock to the side slowly and hesitated before taking the knob in his hand. Within the small space Ino sat up straight and wiped her eyes in anticipation of being released.

Gaara gently laid his palm against the doorknob, curling his fingers around it as he slowly pulled it open, revealing Ino within, and looking down at her silently.

Ino stared back in absolute silence, Gaara's eyes seemed filled with rage and she couldn't understand why.

_What did I do wrong? Why can't I meet his siblings?_

Gaara pulled the door back fully and released the knob continuing to watch her with no breaks.

"G-Gaara?" She decided to finally speak up, wondering if it was the right choice at all considering she has grab marks on her arm to prove it was a horrible choice only five minutes ago. "Please, say something.." She dropped her head in defeat and released a silent sigh as she dug her fingers into the carpet under her.

Gaara dropped to his knees, embracing Ino as he reached her level and tugged her close to his body.

"I'm so sorry I had to do that, it will not happen again, please forgive me."

Ino's eyes opened wide filling with tears again, this time she couldn't distinguish what kind they were, confusion filled and clouded her mind as she let her body relax in this familiar embrace she desired and longed for.

"I love you Gaara."

His lips pressed against each other and spread into a wide grin as he closed his eyes slowly.

"I know you do."

_I know you do._

_-F_


	4. Chapter Four

**Disclaimer:** All credit for the creation of the Naruto franchise goes to Masashi Kishimoto.  
>I do not own any of the characters.<p>

**Notes:** Reviews would be greatly appreciated and helpful.

**I** post new chapters every Tuesday.

**H**appy one month anniversary to this story!

Beta'd by BonesxBreak

* * *

><p><strong>Constellation Love<strong>

Chapter Four-Control

_"Power is what men seek and any group that gets it will abuse it." -Lincoln Steffens_

* * *

><p>The Yamanaka household was occupied with an unusual quiet. Inoichi, placed on a stool in the kitchen, ran scenarios through his mind about why Ino was nowhere to be found. After the morning and afternoon had passed Ino's parents were far past worrying.<p>

The lady of the house broke the ill silence when she appeared gliding down the stairs and into the main hallway that crossed paths with the kitchen entryway.

"Do you think she spent the night at someone's house, maybe she's with Sakura?" Inoichi broke the vocal silence when he heard his wife's approach.

His wife covered her mouth slightly suppressing a slight giggle, then turned into the doorway and placed her hand along the frame. "Sakura and Ino, I highly doubt they would agree to spend a night together." Inoichi's shoulders dropped at the defeat of his only lead. "But I'll call the Haruno residence and see if Sakura talked to her yesterday."

"Good idea," Inoichi rose from his seat and walked over to his wife, planting a kiss on her forehead before he headed into the hallway. "I talked to Shikaku already so I guess I'll head over to visit Choza and Chouji."

-F-

Ino and Gaara strolled along hand in hand next to a river that ran parallel to the village. On the far side of the residential streets with low foot traffic, time alone was guaranteed. They laced fingers and as they walked, Ino often turned her head to glance at the water, shimmering from the light of the sun. Whilst Gaara tapped his index finger against the back of her hand rhythmically with each step they took.

"You know Gaara, I never had any idea you felt any one way about me." The blonde's focus stayed on the mesmerizing river while she spoke to someone who she was willing to call her boyfriend.

"To be honest, when we were here last for the Chunin exam I was interested and wanted to get to know you, so the Suna students coming to study here worked out perfectly for me." Ino's head whipped around to face him while his attention was diverted elsewhere. Gaara cleared his throat and tightened his grip on his lover's hand, which didn't go unnoticed. "I actually did a little research on my own." Ino's eyebrows raised, his latest statement sparking an intrigue within her. From the corner of his eye he took notice of her expression and continued on. "I got into the records room and took your file, along with someone else's. And I had someone make copies of the originals to replace them with."

Gaara flashed smile, pleased with the thought of how his plan had gone so smoothly.

"You went into the records room and stole my file, along with another ninjas? Who was it?" The blonde wasn't quite sure what to make of this; she was happy to hear he was attracted to her and had been for some time, and however this new discovery seemed disturbing.

Gaara turned his attention to her taking notice of her disapproving tone. "Don't say it like that; like it was a criminal act, we replaced what we took with copies. Obviously we were good enough to not get caught." He couldn't help but to let out a hearty laugh, once again praising himself for such a feat.

"Gaara!" Ino dug her heels in and yanked back on Gaara's hand while he continued to walk. "Not only is that against the rules, but you could be seen as a spy for Suna, that's completely out of line!"

The redhead's eyes opened wide at the sudden jerk of his limb he turned sideways and yanked back with his arm, his strength far greater than hers, his tug causing her to stumble forward. His hand met Ino's throat with a quick jab, his fingers pushing deep into her flesh just under her jaw bone.

"Who the fuck do you think you're yelling at?"

They remained stationed like this for a while, she was unable to form a proper response, the feeling of his threats were becoming too well-known, the feel of fear consuming her once more.

Staring into the eyes of this enraged individual was something she had experienced on several occasions now. First in the training field, then the forest, his bedroom, and here. The feeling only sat worse with her when the eyes that were filled with disgust, soon would be filled with passion that fueled her libido.

"Answer me when I'm talking to you!" The force behind his hand intensified, pressing harder against the glands in her neck.

As her eyes filled with tears, one blink was all it took for her vision to be completely blurred, even though the distortion she could make out the venomous green eyes glaring down at her with an undeniable authority. Ino began to drift from the scene, leaving her body to harbor the abuse while she took a small trip back to the other night.

-F-

After passing out in the forest Ino fell in and out of consciousness, she was greeted by the moon each time she woke up and it became a sort of guardian for her. Whenever she opened her eyes she knew it would be there, following them and keeping her safe. She felt too weak to resist against the man carrying her whom she recognized by his hair. Even if the sun was no longer giving her the advantage to see things clearly she wouldn't mistake Gaara even on the darkest of nights.

When she woke up and was able to stay awake, she was laying on the edge of a bed in an unfamiliar room. The bed was placed opposite wall which held the door that lead to, what she assumed was the hallway, and to her left a few stacked bags and scrolls. Upon further inspection she noticed a knob protruding from the wall, which lead to another room or space, next to that was a full length mirror propped against the wall at an odd angle. She observed the large empty room wondering about the resident of such a place, the walls were beige with a red carpet; the bed was a twin with red sheets and beige pillows. There was hardly any light from the two windows on either side of the bed, but a large ceiling light illuminated the space.

She hung her legs over the edge of the bed for a moment, coming to be fully awake now as she stood up. She wearily dragged her feet through the soft carpet towards the mirror to examine herself. Her immediate reaction was one of fright, she scared herself to the point that a second look was almost out of the question. Her normally flowing blonde locks were mixed in with blood and dirt, her pony tail coming loose. Dried blood dotted across her headband and caked her bandages; Ino simply shook her head in disbelief at what she had went through in the forest and turned her attention back to the matter at hand.

"Where am I?" She felt almost nervous about breaking the silence that filled the room before she heard the door knob jingling from what sounded like someone's touch. She looked to her sides frantically before backing up against the wall, uncertainty of her situation caused fear to take control of her mind. As the door slowly opened fiery red hair presented itself, followed by the sand shinobi Gaara.

"I see you're awake now." After glancing in he slid his body through the opening and slowly shut the door behind him. Ino stayed pressed back against the wall as she watched him move across the room to the bed.

"You don't have to look so scared, I won't bite..." He plopped down on the edge of the bed with a sigh and turned to look back at her.

"Where am I?" Ino's voice shook as she clenched her fists into tight balls, ready to attack if his answer didn't satisfy her.

"We're at my temporary residence here in Konoha; I brought you here last night after I found you passed out." He explained slowly before he quickly turned around to face her completely when he tried to defend himself. "Look Ino I'm really sorry about your arm, it was an accident it really was!" Ino flinched as he modulated.

The pain her arm brought her had been constant all night and now it didn't cross her mind until he mentioned it. She moved her arm slightly to get a better look at it, now with appropriate lighting she could see the stomach churning discoloration that had formed.

"I need to leave." She took one step away from the wall and with the loss of her support she took a quick stumble before gaining the ability to walk on her own in the presence of her attacker.

"You're not going to tell anyone about last night are you? Where are you going to go?" Gaara followed her moments, almost springing off his bed as she took a small dive to the floor.

When she reached then other side of the room Ino pressed her hand against the door, grateful for something to support her again. "I'm going home! My parents are probably worried sick about me because you thought it was such a great idea to kidnap me basically to save your own ass!" She coiled her hand around the doorknob, turning it and pulled back exposing a long hallway with three other doors placed about it.

She took her first step out of the room and turned her head quickly to see Gaara jumping off his bed and heading towards her. She shuffled out into the hallway, her back to the opposite wall now, inching slowly away from his room.

His pale face and fiery hair came into view in the doorway as he spoke. "I didn't kidnap you Ino, but I just couldn't show up to your house with you in the condition you were in." He took a small step into the hallway.

"And how is my current condition any better? Does the fact that I can walk on my own make this seem any less terrible?" She wasn't really sure what she was saying, but it felt right. There was a trace of betrayal she felt towards Gaara, someone she was enamored with had turned out to be some violent person she wasn't sure about anymore. Her natural defense at this point was to attack him to keep herself safe.

"I'm sorry Ino, you just took me by surprise and I overreacted, I never wanted to harm you."

Ino's eyes opened wide as he spoke to her.

_Never meant to hurt me? _

"The murderous intent that was in your eyes seemed to disagree with that." She spat it out at him, gaining some form of strength now. Only for it to become useless when she saw Gaara slump against the door frame, seemingly defeated. She brought her good arm up to rub her eyes with her hand before she spoke. "What time is it?"

He lifted his head to watch her before he moved his eyes around in an attempt to remember the last time he had seen a clock. "Eh I think it's around 2 am now."

Time was so strange to her now, back in the training field they had been training for what seemed like a lifetime, but was only an afternoon into an early evening. Her time in the forest felt like forever, but was probably nothing more than an hour or so.

"You can use the shower if you want Ino." Gaara slapped his hand against the door to his right, signaling the mentioned room. "And I guess I could try and get some of the blood out of your clothes." The thought of doing someone else laundry wasn't appealing at all, but his regret for harming her was stronger than his disgust for labor.

Ino looked him up and down cautiously before hobbling back over to him.

"Fine, whatever. But once I'm done I'm going home."

She changed in the bathroom and left her top and skirt out in the hallway in front of the door for Gaara to clean to the best of his ability.

The water was refreshing to her, after a cold night in the forest, the hot water and steam felt amazing. It burned slightly, but she didn't mind, running over her skin and trickled down to the tub floor. Even the running water over her bruise felt good; so far it was the only thing to not bring her pain.

Ino leaned forward; hot water lost itself within her flowing blonde locks and reemerged as streams falling from the ends of her hair.

After she finished cleaning herself she wrapped a towel Gaara had left out and stepped out of the shower. Her wet feet slapped against the tile floor as she headed to the door, cracking it open a bit to let the steam leave to give her the chance to observe herself. After a few tries of running her hands across the mirror she finally got it clear enough to make out her form. Damp blonde hair fell down her back exposing a fresh face and bright green eyes staring back at her.

"All things considered, not too bad." She turned to her side observing her figure the best she could with the mirror positioned in on the wall. Regardless how she tried to ignore it, her bruise always caught her attention, it now being her most striking feature.

While Ino continued to twirl around, run fingers through her hair, and press up on her cleavage, an eye opened wide as it watched her intently through the opening in the door. One at a time, fingers coiled around the edge of the door, pushing forward on it slowly giving them more room to peek inside at the kunoichi. They ran their tongue running across their teeth then across their upper lip as Ino moved and primped in the mirror.

_Ino._

Ino turned her head over to the door and headed towards it, pulling it open slowly when she reached it, revealing folded up red shirt lying on the floor. She leaned forward and snatched it up before glancing around the small empty hallway. She retreated into the bathroom and finished drying off before putting on the shirt that hung down past her hips. She exited the bathroom and headed down the stairs looking for someone as she reached the first floor.

Ino glanced around the small living room to the clock positioned on the wall.

_2:45_

She wasn't sure what was happening outside really, if her parents were worried about her, she was sure they had noticed they hadn't returned yet. She imagined her mother crying hysterically and her father doing his best to calm her down.

-F-

The roar of laughter filled the spacious living room as Inoichi fell over into a wooden chair, some of his drink spilling from his hand. Shikaku tipped is head back, pressing the bottle of sake to his lips and chugged.

"You-you," Inoichi paused for a second as his head bobbed up and down, his vision of his drinking buddy becoming blurred after their recent bottle. "you are absolutely right. Ino, the girl is just a problem, trouble. All teenage girls are!" He pressed his feet back against the floor, tipping himself back in his chair as his voice raised in pitch when he spoke.

"I told you!" Shikaku brought the empty bottle down and slammed it against the table while he swayed to the side. "Whoa... I mean, why do you think I'm so happy?" He lifted his arm and shook it, his finger jabbing the air in the direction of a hallway to his right. "What's his name?"

Inoichi bit down on the edge of the small sake cup and leaned back, the rest of his drink spilling across his face before putting all the feet back on the floor. "Who man?" His voice was filled with an unnecessary concern as he stood, tumbling over almost instantly. His shoulder collided with the wall and he stood there for a moment, trying to find the strength to push off from it. "Oh my, this wall it won't let me go!"

"What is his name?" Shikaku banged his fists against his head while Inoichi pushed back against the wall with all the force he could muster.

"Let me go wall!"

"Shikamaru! Shikamaru! I remembered him!" Shikaku stumbled forward rushing to his friend and ran into him, grabbing hold of his shirt pulling him close. "Oh, I remembered who it was, it was Shikamaru!"

"What about him, is he hurt? Did he run away too?" Inoichi placed his hands on his friend's shoulders and began to talk hysterically. "I'm so sorry!"

Shikaku released hold of his friend and fell into his arms, crying with his drinking buddy. "Why did he have to run away?"

After hearing his name being shouted Shikamaru dragged his feet down the hallway from the kitchen where he was waiting with his mom and stopped once he reached the end of the hall. When the two sobbing drunks came into view and the odor of spilled sake reached him Shikamaru shook his head and turned back around, retreating to the kitchen with his mother.

-F-

_Why am I am still here? _

Ino leaned her back against an empty wall in the living room looking up at the ceiling.

_I don't know it's almost three in the morning; I can't just show up at this time and expect it to be fine._

_Do you think waiting will make it any better?_

_Not really, but I think I'd feel better._

_Or could it be you just want to spend as much time with Gaara?_

_Gaara..._

Ino pushed off from the wall and walked into the near center of the room. The room itself was tiny considering three people lived there. From Ino's position she stood in front of the stairs with her back to them. To her left was a plain wall that extended until an opening that led to the kitchen. Across the small space was a television stand, various books were placed upon it as well as a television. To her right was a couch that would fit two people comfortably, and next to that was the front door. The center of the room was home to a coffee table and a ceiling light.

She raised her hand to her mouth, pressing her nail to her tooth, tempted to bite before she spun around and made her way upstairs. When she hit the landing strip she progressed down the thin hallway until she reached the first room on the right. She tapped her knuckles against the door as it opened slightly from the force; a breeze of cold air ran against her legs. Borrowing a shirt from Gaara that hung just below her hips left her legs bare to the elements.

"Who is it?" Gaara's cold voice bounced around Ino's head and made her shudder slightly.

"Mm, its Ino, I-I wanted to talk to you, if I could." Ino waited patiently at the door for a response and opened her eyes wide as the door swung back revealing the sand shinobi standing in front of her.

"Did you need something else?" Gaara turned his back on her and headed back into his room; Ino raised her eyebrow at his rude tone and wondered what the true meaning behind it was as she followed him in.

"No not really, just to tell you that I'm not mad at what happened in the training field anymore." Ino's eyes danced around in their sockets, glancing over several objects inside his room while she spoke, unable to make eye contact.

Gaara turned back to face her and watched her wandering gaze closely. "Really, you're not mad anymore?"

Ino formed a small smile and shook her head. "It's just a bruise, it'll heal." She grabbed her arm around her bruise carefully.

_This won't heal._

Ino took a few daring steps forward and plopped down on the edge of his bed, crossing her legs and drummed her fingers on her knees. Gaara watched her intently as he moved to her side.

"I'm surprised you're not upset, I'm no doctor, but I know a wound like that won't heal, not easily anyway." His hand brushed against her shoulder as he walked past her.

"Well, Lady Tsunade is the best medical ninja there is, I'm sure she could do something about it." She tapped her toes against the carpet, fidgeting slightly.

"I wonder why you're so forgiving." Gaara walked in front of her, his green eyes staring down at the top of her lowered head. "A stranger harms you and you're just going to forgive them like that? A hot shower and a shirt can influence you that easily?"

Ino shot her head up and glared back at him. "It's not like that at all, I just-" She cut off and dropped her leg back to the ground, sliding away from him, to the center of the bed. "Just can't find it in me to hate you."

Gaara turned around where he stood, looking around his own room for a moment as his guest continued.

"I don't think I was ever mad. Scared, I know I was scared, scared for my life."

Gaara spun back around to face her and slid his feet across the carpet, inching closer. As he reached the edge of his bed he lifted his arm slowly and took hold of Ino's hand.

Her eyes moved to find his, but they were focused on their hands meeting.

"Like I said, I'm sorry." His voice was different now, it had lost the cold bitterness it held on regular basis. Gaara knelt down until his knees met the bed, lifting Ino's arm as he did so before he placed his lips against the back of her hand.

_What is it about him that makes me feel off? Almost as if I'm lost or out of place in darkness. I don't know if I should trust him or run from him._

Gaara slid closer, his lips moving up to her forearm now, minute bumps rising across her skin with each kiss.

_But there's something that wants me to push and see lies in this darkness._

Gaara neared closer and pressed his lips carefully against the center of Ino's wound, lingering there only a moment as he headed higher. Ino kept her head stationed forward as her body seemed to be charged by some electrifying source, his touch was something new to her, something unexpected and wonderful.

Gaara kissed her shoulder and moved to rest his chin against it as he whispered into her ear.

"I'm sorry Ino." Blonde hair whipped to the side as Ino turned her head to face Gaara, only an inch of space kept them apart, green eyes staring deep into each other.

She only had the chance to mutter the beginning of the word she wanted to say back before his lips were pushed out to dab against hers. He repeated the action a second time, before Ino slowly placed her hands on the sides of his hands, holding him still while she moved in. The first kiss only lasted a second, but it sparked something within her, something that wouldn't die for a while.

They separated and watched each other for a moment, neither daring to speak, green eyes staring deep into each other.

Ino moved her hands down to her waist, taking hold of the shirt she was wearing and lifted it up and over her head, tossing it aside to the floor. Gaara followed her and tossed his away too before leaning closer to her.

_Ino._

-F-

_Ino._

Ino's eyelids fluttered open, the empty blue sky was all she saw when she woke up.

"Ino!" The loud voice made her head pound as it echoed around inside. "Ino wake up please." She felt something slide under her head and pull her up. Pink hair came into view as her vision became clear she saw Sakura, Shikamaru, and Chouji crouching around her staring at her with worried eyes.

"Ino, thank goodness you're alright." Chouji sat back, his body dropped to the ground and let out a sigh of relief.

Shikamaru smiled and looked over at Chouji and then back to Ino. "You really had us worried."

Ino shook her head slowly and looked down at her legs. "Where's Gaara?"

Sakura bit down on her tongue at the mention of his name and began to stand up, pulling Ino up along with her. "No one was here when she showed up, you were lying here alone. Anyway we should go; your parents are worried about you, your mom called earlier."

Ino pressed her hand against her forehead trying to figure out what happened before she woke up and how she was going to deal with her parents.

"We're gonna head back to back Chouji's to tell your dad you're heading come, be safe!" Shikamaru and Chouji ran back into the central area of the village as Shikamaru called out before disappearing behind a building.

"Thanks billboard brow, for helping me." Ino felt a sense of ease swim over her, she loved being with Gaara, but time around her fellow Leaf ninja made her feel something else. Something better than being with him.

Sakura's eyes opened wide and glared at Ino. "Anytime pig, but you know you shouldn't be hanging around with Gaara."

Ino turned her head up to face the pink haired girl and gave her a puzzled look. "Why's that?"

"Well I'm assuming he's abusive," Ino turned her head back to face the path ahead of them, a scowl spreading across her face. "I got here first and called the other two over when I found you, but when I showed up he was hovering your body like some sick pervert." Ino's jaw dropped slightly only for her to take in a bit of air.

Sakura turned her head to stare over at her friend. "He was basically choking you, you didn't just fall asleep, he cut off your air and you passed out. And he probably put that mark on your arm too." Ino grabbed over her bruise with her hand and felt the material of her elbow warmers. "Yeah when I got here those were down that's how I saw it, I pulled them up before Shikamaru and Chouji got close enough. How did you-" Sakura lifted her head to the sky, her tongue pressed against the roof of her mouth, searching for her next word. "When did you, I mean why are you hanging around with him."

Ino took a few large steps away from Sakura and stopped once she had reached the street that her house was down. "You know Sakura I think you should let me talk to my parents alone and you should head home now."

Sakura shook her head and walked up to Ino. "Fine you can talk to them on your own, but I'm not leaving until I see you go in that house." She crossed her arms and stared at Ino.

Blonde hair swung around, some of it slapping against Sakura's cheek as she stormed off down the street and up to the door of her house before pushing her way inside.

Sakura pulled the corner of her mouth up into a small smile when Ino was no longer in sight; she turned off to the side and began to walk down to path she came. She winced slightly as she moved and turned down a shrouded alleyway due to the shadows of the buildings around it.

Sakura continued to walk down a few empty streets, her left arm crossed over her chest and her hand holding onto a sore shoulder. She applied medical treatment to it while she walked; trying to heal what had been done.

As she walked two pairs of eyes watched her with hunger, unaware of each other, two shinobi glared down at the pink haired female with desire.

-F

* * *

><p>Happy Holidays.<p> 


	5. Chapter Five

**Disclaimer:** All credit for the creation of the Naruto franchise goes to Masashi Kishimoto.  
>I do not own any of the characters.<p>

**Notes:** Reviews would be greatly appreciated and helpful.

**I** post new chapters every Tuesday.

**H**ope you enjoyed Thanksgiving, if you don't celebrate Thanksgiving hope you enjoyed Thursday.

**I**'m about to go there.

* * *

><p><strong>Constellation Love<strong>

Chapter Five-Black

_"Violence is always the last option, but if that times comes, it is the only option." -John Gilmour_

* * *

><p>Ino edged her way inside her house and kept the knob on the door turned as she sealed her only exit to avoid making any excess sound. At this point all she wanted to do was conceal herself away in her room and await the punishment that would be given to her. She stood still for a second, inhaling slowly as she crept slowly down the hallway, all she had to do was pass the kitchen then the living room, and make an agile sprint up the stairs to her room.<p>

She moved down the hall and paused as she reached the entrance to the kitchen; she turned her head tardily and peered inside the small room. Entirely empty.

Ino grinned and took in a breath of comfort before moving to the center of the hallway, only about ten more steps and the stairs would be under her feet. With another step she paused to look to her right this time, into the living room. From her current place she only saw part of the room, but it was good enough, she wasn't taking the risk of straying from her path. She grinned again and tip toed the extent of a few feet before placing her foot down against the first step to freedom as her father's thick voice roared from the living room.

"Ino!"

Ino bit down on her bottom lip as she wordlessly blasted her father, she took one fleeting look up the stairs and forced the corner of her mouth up into a smirk.

_I was so close..._

"Ino! Is that you?" She heard dense thumps approaching from the living room in uneven steps.

"Yeah it-it's me, I'm home." She attempted to play it off as nothing grave as she moved up the stairs a bit more. Inoichi stormed out of the living room, a bottle of sake clasped in his hand, Ino spotted it instantly and watched her father through frustrated eyes.

"Where, where the hell have you been? We, I, we, your mother and me, me, we was worried that you weren't home." He lurched towards her, catching himself on the stair railing before billowing over. His sake bottle thumping against the wood as some of its contents spilled out on the stairs. Inoichi brought his face closer to his daughters, exhaling a hot intoxicated breath out at her face. "Whoops!"

Ino faked a laugh, hoping the sake would be dulling his memory and that she could slip up to her room before another side of her father appeared.

"So." Inoichi put his hands out in front of him signaling he wanted to stop what he was doing to recover his thoughts. "Where were you?" He jolted his head back and pursed his lips, holding back the urge to be sick.

"I went out," Ino dug her finger into her bang and began to twirl it around. "with a friend." Ino said it simply, it was the truth and it was the truth that didn't sound bad at all.

"Oh really, that's cute. Which friend?" Her father mantled his arms over the railing and rested his chin against his forearm, sardonically pretending to be fascinated.

"One from class, we went training in the field." Ino motioned off her response as if it were no big deal. "You know, to work on my hand seal timing, and I'm really tired so I'm just gonna," Ino shook her head in the direction of the stairs as she took a few steps up them. "head to my room and lay down for a bit."

Inoichi leaned his head to the side and smiled at his daughter as she crept away before throwing his arm out, releasing his sake bottle as he swung out, and the bottle crashed against the wall. What was left in the bottle after its earlier spill, splattered across the wall and then seeped down to the floor. Inoichi caught the edge of the railing and swung himself around it, tripping on the steps as he attempted to climb them.

"You think you're just going to walk in after running around playing," He forced his lips together trying to develop a word in his outburst. "whore to half of the village? And just think oh dad will be cool with that?" He gripped the railing again for balance while the other hand flew about in the air, emphasizing his irritation.

Ino took a few more steps to gain a height advantage over her father as she screamed back her reply.

"I wasn't out playing whore I went out with a friend!" Ino threw her hands out between them, her balled up fists shaking with instant frustration. "Didn't you hear me?" An offended Inoichi simply glared at his daughter with hateful eyes.

"Do you think I'm just going to stay in the house all day?" Ino shrugged her shoulders, looking around at their surroundings, suggesting with her body language that there was nothing within their home to keep her entertained. "I won't be trapped inside like mom all the time." Inoichi's eyes widened as Ino finished screeching, he reached out, taking hold of her blouse roughly and yanked her down on the steps. Ino's ankles bending under the force of her body being dragged down before she was thrown against the railing and pinned back. He moved closer to her as Ino gagged slightly, her father's nauseating breath filling her nostrils as he wavered over her.

"You, you shut then fuck up!" Inoichi leaned in closer to Ino while he bellowed out into her face, specks of saliva spreading over her terrified face.

Ino forced back against him, managing to push him off from over her, Inoichi stumbled back down on the steps slightly. Unable to keep his balance due to the bottles of sake he had downed earlier he continued to slide down the steps before taking hold of the railing.

"You can't control me." Ino's voice was filled with the sad truth as her eyes grew watery. "Not like you tried to control mom."

Inoichi shifted his focus from trying to stand, to his daughter as the truth rained down on him.

"And you wonder why she's having an affair with Shikaku, it's because you're a horrible person." No matter how hard she tried she couldn't stop the tears from running from her eyes. She wasn't sure who was hurting more from this.

Inoichi gripped the railing tightly as he used it to support himself while he managed to stand. He swallowed down hard and turned back to Ino, stepping up to her and bringing a large powerful hand against her face. Ino stumbled down from her step, her back slamming against the railing and then down to the ground, steps digging into her rib cage as she rolled down to the floor.

"You dunno anything you stupid bitch!" Inoichi leaned forward as he yelled down at his fallen child, shouting out insults one after another while tears mixed in with blood leaking from Ino's mouth.

She pushed off the ground slowly, only to fall back down and bring her hand over her bruise that was now throbbing after landing on it. She attempted to speak, but only bursts of angered spasms and inaudible words made it from her lips. Inoichi tilted his head from side to side, his own tears threatening to show themselves as he hobbled down the steps closer to Ino.

She glared out of the corner of her eye at the approaching figure and rolled over on her side to see him reach a hand out to her.

"Don't you ever," Ino paused a moment, swallowing down a mouthful of her blood, the copper taste coating her tongue. "fucking, touch me again!" Ino shrieked, her body shaking on the floor as she cried.

"Ino I'm sorry, I-I-I-I just lost it, I don't know, please don't tell your mother.." Inoichi ran his hands through his hair and paced slightly on the steps while Ino struggled to her feet.

Once she was standing she backed up slowly to the door, using the wall as her support. She kept her hand over her bruise, but the rest of her body ached with a pounding pain as well. She slammed her free hand against the door, frantically searching for the knob and when she found it her hand shook violently as she grasped it.

"You don't deserve us, mom or me!" Inoichi looked up from his concerned state to see Ino shouting at him from across the way. "You deserve to rot in hell!" Ino moved to the side as she pulled the door open to the best of her ability.

"Get the fuck outta my house pig!" He stormed down the steps, taking large steps towards the front door as Ino slipped outside, pulling the door close as Inoichi reached it slamming his palms against it. Ino cried out as the force caused a deep pain in her wrist and heard an equally disturbing cry from the other side of the door.

Ino staggered away from the door and down to the street as she hobbled about in no real direction, lost in many ways.

-F-

Sakura paused, leaning against a vacant building for a moment, as she pulled down on the collar of her shirt. Slipping her shoulder out from it as she moved her hand over the bare skin, pressing down hard she concentrated a large amount of chakra into her palm. Sighing with relief as her healing started to take effect, numbing the pain she had been dealing with all day. After the pain had dulled down to a tolerable level she removed her hand and turned to head to look down at it. A black and purple bruise occupied the upper part of her back on the right side. She had it for a little while now, all because she made him angry.

She pulled her top back up, covering her shoulder as she remembered the night she received the bruise, and those eyes of the individual that delivered it.

-F-

Ino began to walk in a hazy state of mind around corners and down streets until she passed by an alleyway and something caught her eye.

"Sakura?" Ino's tears only intensified when she spotted a glimpse of a red outfit topped with pink hair out of the corner of her eye.

Sakura had taken her time to getting home; walking down as many streets she could without taking the fastest route. Various thoughts running through her mind were her sole purpose for taking detours, walking gave her the much needed time to clear her thoughts. She was so deep in her thoughts she never noticed the blonde shinobi that hobbled by ahead of her. Sakura also never saw the figure that approached her from behind after coming out of the shadows. Hiding in the shadow of an add-on to someone's house was the perfect place. The structure hid him from anyone walking past the alley and anyone walking down it wouldn't notice him. He stepped out as soon as Sakura had passed and slapped his hand over her mouth, quickly dragging her back into the shadows. Whispering rapid threats into her ear as to what he'd do if she made any noise.

Ino backed up slowly to get Sakura's attention, but when she was in front of the alleyway again there was no sign of the kunoichi. But what Ino saw was just as pleasing, that unmistakably familiar red hair and his pale skin. Gaara walked slowly down the alleyway heading towards her, and she felt all of the pain disappear.

Sakura caught a glimpse of the menacing figure walking down the alleyway, her screams muffled behind the hand as Gaara walked past them. Sakura's captor grinned as Gaara disappeared out of sight, slowly he moved to the end of the add-on to peer around it to Gaara almost out of the alleyway and to Ino. He backed up against the wall and inched himself out of shadows. He shifted himself around Sakura and slammed her back up against the wall, his hand still pressed to her mouth while he smirked. Sakura's eyes grew wide as the face of her captor became obvious, and soon everything went dark.

Gaara wrapped his arms around Ino's midsection, patting her back gently while she sobbed heavily into his chest. Ino mumbled phrases Gaara never heard and never cared to hear; while he comforted her he bent his finger back, wiggling it slowly as a lump of sand inched its way across the ground, closer and closer to the Yamanaka household. He brought his finger to Ino's back again as the sand ball spread thin as it began to slide into the home through a crack in the door frame.

"Shh...It's going to be fine, I promise."

Ino continued to sputter into Gaara's shirt while he attempted to comfort her. Meanwhile in the alleyway Sakura's motionless body was thrown over the shoulder of her unknown kidnapper as they disappeared from sight in an instant.

-F-

Sakura awoke staring up into the canopy of a forest, she squired around on the floor, stretching out her limbs and writhing around in the dirt and grass under her.

"Where am I?" She groaned out, moving her arms to prop herself up slightly.

"Morning."

Sakura snapped her head back, her pink locks brushing across the ground as she took notice of the crouching figure behind her. Cold eyes stared down at her, her own widened as the memories of her time in the alley rushed back with one look at those eyes. She instantly sprang up, clawing at the ground in front of her as she gained her balance. She barely made it a few steps before a large hand dug its way into her hair, taking hold of a large handful of it as she was tugged back. She felt strands of her hair rip themselves free from her scalp as her body reared forward and her head jerked backwards.

"Leaving so soon?" The voice was tense and sent horrifying chills up her spine whenever it came in contact with her ears.

She maneuvered her legs under her once more and tried to stand on her own to avoid the pain that was spreading from her head.

"Please-please just let me go.." Sakura wasn't sure when she had started crying, but there were tears pouring down her face now.

Her captor pressed another hand to her back and pushed forward, guiding her body as they progressed towards a tree a few feet away. Before she had ample time to prepare herself, Sakura was slammed against the tree with an intense force. Bark scraped against her cheek, her knees rammed into the trunk as well, and bits of disturbed bark threatening to break skin. Sakura gave up any hope of fighting back as she sobbed against the tree, the grip on her hair never leaving.

It wasn't until her head was pulled back and slammed against the tree that Sakura knew felt absolute terror felt like. Unprepared for the impact, Sakura bit down on her lip, blood leaking from it mixing in with the tears and dripping down to the forest floor. She brought her lip into her mouth to stop the bleeding, but the pressure behind her head only caused her fang to break past the skin again.

"Stop your whining!" Her head was yanked back again; Sakura knew what was coming and pleaded to her assailant against it, but to no avail. As her head collided with the tree again the forest surroundings grew dark and blurry. The hot sensation of her busted lip was the last thing felt before passing out, pressed against the tree.

-F-

The ball of sand that crept through the Yamanaka household had flattened itself down into a thin layer as it slid across the floor, blindly searching. As it slithered across the wooden floors it began to seep down through a small crack in the floor, down underneath the home.

-F-

After a physically painful walk with Gaara back to his home, Ino collapsed down onto his bed and wanted nothing more than to breakdown and cry.

Ino scooted her head back against the bed to look at the window, the sunlight coming through was too bright for her to see much of anything, but it didn't stop her mind from wandering.

_I know I saw Sakura in the alleyway, so where did she disappear to?_

Reluctantly Ino made her way off of the bed and hobbled to the door and out into the hall. She moved down the hall until she reached the steps, taking each one slowly. Upon reaching the ground she rounded the corner in the living room into the wide kitchen. Her eyes fixed in the direction of a rummaging sound she heard as she entered, quickly spotting his red hair standing in front of a slow closing fridge door.

"Baby.." She slid her feet across the floor as she slowly approached, waiting for him to acknowledge her.

Gaara slapped the door close and turned to face Ino as he spread his arms out ready to meet her.

"I see you're feeling better." He smiled weakly as she entered his embrace, he pressed his head against hers, and the smell of vanilla filled his lungs and caused him to forget where he was for a moment.

"Yeah I'm fine now I guess." Ino smiled as she pressed her hands to his back, always finding comfort in his arms.

"Hey, you were in that alleyway, you didn't see Sakura in there did you?" Ino pulled back before touching her forehead to Gaara and locking eyes with him.

Gaara's own eyes darted back of forth, unable to focus on one of Ino's.

"There was no one else in that alleyway with me." He raised his hand and ran it down Ino's long ponytail slowly. "After what happened with your father you were a bit shaken up and probably were seeing things..."

Ino hummed under her breath as she closed her eyes, the feeling of his touch calming her down like it always did.

Gaara tilted his head back slightly as his lips met Ino's unsuspecting pair quickly with a small peck. A gentle blush spread across Ino's cheeks at his affection before she returned the favor. Kankuro came around the corner, his hand on a mission digging intently around within his boxer shorts as he yawned.

A low scoffing noise bellowed from his throat when Gaara proceeded to kiss Ino back, but with more passion than his previous kiss. Ino was too preoccupied to pay Kankuro any attention when he began to make remarks about them getting a room.

Once their lips parted again Ino flashed Gaara a smile, her glossy eyes taking in each of his features she never grew tired of seeing before he addressed his brother.

"If it bothers you that much, then leave..." It sounded more like a command than a suggestion, sending chills up Ino's spine as her body shook within Gaara's embrace.

Kankuro used his free hand to rub his clean face before flipping his brother off and turning around back into the living room.

Ino hung her arms around his neck, her fingers meeting behind his back while he placed his hands on her hips. His fingers began to slowly trace down her thighs as Ino backed up slowly, tugging him along by his neck, Gaara followed obediently. She led him back through the kitchen and into the living room, their lips meeting each other every so often.

Once they reached the sofa Ino laid her legs underneath her as she placed herself down on the couch, Gaara had repositioned his hands to the sides of her face. Keeping her head still while he delivered what he knew she was demanding. Ino closed her eyes, her lips at the ready and Gaara's eyes glanced over her petite face before he tilted his head, taking his time before kissing her again. Ino mimicked Gaara's hands, placing her own on the sides of his face and Gaara shifted one of his own to the back of her head, deepening the kiss the best the two lovers could as their passion began to take over.

They continued their pecking session, heads moving side to side, lips pressing against one another, slowly beginning to undress each other. Once a majority of the clothes had been thrown about the room with no care to where they landed, Gaara held Ino back against the couch as he hovered down over her. His tongue making a new trip sliding past her lips before brushing against Ino's. Ino threw her hands back around his neck as she shifted in her current position to lie back on the couch. Gaara followed her moves and hovered over her, his hands running down her warm skin gently. All the while they were careful to never once break the kiss or the rendezvous between their tongues.

Gaara broke the kiss and earned a slight whimper from Ino as she squirmed underneath him, finding a spot that she was comfortable in while his eyes traced over her form. Vibrant red underwear that he swore matched the colour of his hand that he saw from his peripherals. The wounds caused by the altercation with her father were healed and no longer visible, the only blemish that remained was the one on her arm.

_The one I caused..._

Gaara pushed the memory from his mind as he took hold of the collar of his fishnet body wear that he wore under his body suit. He tugged at the collar and slid his shoulder through the stretching opening and soon his arm, followed by the other arm. Ino grew antsy and raised her arms up, digging her fingers into the holes in the net clothing and tugged down on it before leaving it to rest around his hips. Only his underwear and the remainder of the fishnet remained as Gaara slid himself from the couch and down to the floor.

Ino sat up in the center of the couch staring down at him slightly confused.

"Come back up here with me baby.." She pleaded in a low voice, a hint of sadness lingering within.

Gaara ran his hands up from Ino's bare feet, to her smooth calves and then over and behind her knees. All the while the overwhelming pleasurable feeling Ino got from Gaara's rough hands had her wanting more.

Ino raised her hand to her forehead, brushing back her solitary bang while heat raced to her face. Gaara pecked his lips against the skin above her knee as Ino lifted her legs one at a time, placing them down again over Gaara's shoulders. His lips continued to kiss along her skin, moving higher and higher, a small moan escaping Ino's lips as she other hand move along Gaara's hand that was running up to her waist. His lips dragging along the skin before reaching the top of her thigh, taking a bit of the flesh into his mouth before releasing it and causing a small ripple to pass over the surrounding skin. Gaara continued as he kissed along the edge of the lace underwear, scooting his body up fully between her legs.

-F-

With her head constantly being dug into the forest floor Sakura cried out in muffled bursts, clumps of dirt falling into her mouth when she did. A strong force kept her pinned down while they had their way with her. Thin and strong wires had been tied around her wrists, and another set around her thighs and ankles. Even if freedom was an option, she was in no position to escape from her rapist. The dirt surrounding her head was slightly damp with a mixture of her tears, saliva, and vomit.

-F-

Gaara's eyes glanced up at Ino while he placed one more kiss against her flesh, his face pressed up against her waist. Ino's eyes snapped shut as she shuddered, the unfamiliar sensation swarming over her body. She had always imagined what it might be like to have Gaara please her like this, but experiencing it was far beyond her imagination. Ino's balled up panties rested down by Gaara's feet while Ino's thin fingers made their way through Gaara's soft red hair. Louder moans escaping her lips while his tongue moved in a swirl pattern.

-F-

Sakura sobbed heavily, her entire body sending her intense stings of pain as the cold forest breeze slapped against her exposed form. She turned over slowly, her bruising shoulders slamming against the floor as she landed on her back. When her attacker walked past her, the crest of the Uchiha came into view, soon to disappear within the foliage.

"Sa-suke..."

-F


	6. Chapter Six

**Disclaimer:** All credit for the creation of the Naruto franchise goes to Masashi Kishimoto.  
>I do not own any of the characters.<p>

**Notes:** Reviews would be greatly appreciated and helpful.

**DonovanX:** I'm glad you enjoyed my uncomfortable sexual writing and yes I will ruin Sakura's life too.

**Freyja:** Thanks for all the love and support!

I post new chapters every Tuesday.

* * *

><p><strong>Constellation Love<strong>

Chapter Six-Falling, Don't Let Me

_"We're never so vulnerable than when we trust someone - but paradoxically, if we cannot trust, neither can we find love or joy." -Walter Anderson_

* * *

><p><em>-The Next Day-<em>

A ball of paper was hurled at a classmate's head, one of many to head in that direction since the class had begun. Ino closed her eyes slowly and turned in her seat, another paper ball smacking against her cheek as she did so. She completed her turn and slammed her fists down onto the table behind her.

"Cut it out Naruto!" She donned a menacing scowl at the hyperactive blonde shinobi behind her as he crumpled up another sheet of ammo.

"Well then stop ignorin' me will ya?" Naruto squinted as he laid his hands behind his head, tipping back in his chair.

"I'm trying to focus you idiot..." She turned back in her seat and stared at him from the corner of her eye. "Unlike you some of us care about our grades..."

Naruto stuck his tongue out and blew fast air behind it before leaning forward in his seat and over the table, whispering into Ino's ear.

"Have you seen Sakura?"

Ino screamed and her eyes grew wide as she flung her arms up in surprise, one of her hands slapping Naruto in the process.

"Don't do that shit to me Naruto, and no I haven't seen billboard brow, what do I look like her mother?" She pressed her hands against his shoulders trying to shove him off the table and away from her.

Naruto latched onto her, intent that if he falls she fell with him. "Well you two are friends and she wasn't in class at all today, so I just figured!" Ino shook her shoulders trying to break free from his hold.

Ino snarled back, still trying to break from him. "Five head is not my fr-"

"Naruto! Ino!" Their instructor's voice echoed across the large classroom and the focus of their classmates shifted to them. "Would you like to share what about your conversation is so fascinating that you are disrupting my lesson?" Iruka promptly shut his book he was reading from and slammed it against the blackboard he was standing in front of.

"No sens-" Ino dropped her voice down and was soon overpowered by her friend.

"We were just trying to figure out where Sakura-chan is!" Naruto shifted his weight back and leaned against his own table while he shouted to the front of the room.

"Mm..." Iruka closed his eyes for a moment considering the absence of his usually punctual student; he then cleared his throat before addressing Naruto again. "Focus on my lesson Naruto before you start worrying about others, I'm sure she's just not feeling well today." Iruka nodded, satisfied with his answer and dug his finger into his book trying to find his lost page.

Naruto slumped down into his seat and Ino started to think about the last time she had seen Sakura, in that alleyway with Gaara. Regardless what he told her, she knew she had seen her.

Towards the back of the room Gaara crossed his arms over his chest as he stared protectively down at Ino. Sasuke Uchiha's grin grew wider after hearing Naruto's concern regarding their female team member.

Ino absentmindedly began to draw on one of the balls of paper she had straightened out. It start out as a few random shapes, turning into a pair of hands forming her favorite seal; the boar. And before long she completed the human body and began drawing another one beside it. She stared down at them; unsatisfied and began to draw the outline of a heart around them. Before long the first figure had a kanji marked upon their forehead and the other a long single bang.

Ino's concentration shifted as a small sandy object floated over her paper, dropping a few grains as it did so. It spun around, the object now resembling a rather large floating eye, Ino turned around in her chair to look back at Gaara. With one eye closed and a sly smirk on his face Gaara wiggled his fingers playfully in Ino's direction. She turned back in her chair, suppressing a giggle, as she placed a kiss on the palm of her hand before blowing it at the eye.

"Ino!" Iruka's voice caught the attention of the entire class and their focus was directed immediately to Ino. She stuttered on a response as the eye dropped down to her table, turning into nothing more than a pile of sand flowing across the table and over the edge.

"Iru-ka-hahaha!" She glanced down at the mess spreading itself over her desk as she began to laugh out loud gaining more attention from the few students who chose not to pay her any mind the first time.

Iruka closed his book once more and bonked it against his forehead. "Ino, why don't you just go see the Hokage and tell her you were disrupting my class, not once but twice." Ino's laugh died down as the situation became a little more serious, she knew she'd be punished if she was to tell her master that. "And maybe Lady Tsunade will have something for you to do, since my lecture is boring you."

"It's not like that at all Iruka-sensei!" Ino shot up from her desk, planting her hands down into the pile of sand, a small snicker seeping from her lips. Iruka threw his arm out, using his book to point to the exit of the classroom.

Ino sighed as she fished around in the sand and took hold of her doodle and tugged it out. She folded up the paper and began to slide down the aisle behind the chair of students who refused to scoot in for her.

_So rude..._

Ino stepped out into the middle of the classroom and hopped up the steps two a time, all eyes still following her every move. Once she reached the top she detoured to hop up onto another student's desk, the table Gaara and Sasuke were sharing. She held her folded paper in between her index and middle fingers and slipped her hand down under the table, dropping the paper down behind one of the straps that Gaara wore around his body.

Gaara's eyes followed the paper to its resting place and soon met Ino's hand as her fingers trailed back up the top of his body suit, tickling under his chin slightly as they moved higher. Ino placed her hands against his cheeks gently before leaning over the edge of the desk for a last minute kiss. She barred her fangs as she grinned seductively at him, green eyes meeting their twin. Gaara sat still while their lips met, at some point he heard her name being called out by the instructor and several students making inappropriate comments.

Ino detached herself from Gaara's mouth and ran a finger under his lips as she slowly slid off the table and moved towards the exit with a new spring in her step.

Sasuke turned his attention to Ino as she left, eyeing her form as it left the room. Gaara turned back to face the front of the class when he noticed Sasuke.

"Mm where are your eyes Uchiha?" Gaara fished out the paper Ino had left behind before placing his arms down on his desk.

"On that pretty little blonde who just left," Sasuke ran his tongue over his lips quickly before facing the front of the class. "why do you ask?"

Gaara's fingers moved in the air as if they were walking on a something, sand from his gourd placed against the wall making its way from his home up the Sasuke's chair slowly.

"I would advise you to keep your eyes off of her Uchiha..." His fingers never stopping as the sand moved higher still, coming up to the top of the back of the chair.

"And if I refuse?" Sasuke dropped his elbows down on the desk, covering his mouth as Iruka started up his lesson again.

Gaara's dull eyes shifted to the corners as they stared daggers into Sasuke. "I will not hesitate to kill you Uchiha." The sand slithered along the top of the chair before spreading itself out, most of it floating in small collections around Sasuke's head.

"Relax Gaara... I wouldn't _dream_ of touching Ino. I might get a bad rep if another girl goes missing." An evil grin curled across Sasuke's face while he spoke, hiding behind his hands.

"What happened to Haruno?" Gaara's sand receded, resting back against the chair as it slowly digressed back to the gourd.

"She got what she wanted, after all this time, the bitch got what she wanted..."

It was short walk from the academy building to the Hokage's office and Ino took her sweet time getting there. Finding a new outlook on the world and everything it, with Gaara by her side nothing seemed to bring her down anymore.

She stomped her way to the front doors of the Hokage building, two guards shuffled inwards to block her path to the door.

"Step aside boys, I was sent here by Iruka-sensei!" She announced being kicked from class as proudly as she could as the two guards turned to the side letting her pass through.

Ino made her way through the building at a snail's pace before she found herself walking down the hallway that contained Tsunade's office.

Ino stepped closer to the door when heard the sound of something crashing from within the office.

"Lady Tsunade... Please calm down ma'am." Ino recognized it as Shizune's voice; she leaned herself against the wall and edged closer to the door, pressing her ear against it gently.

"Sakura how could you let this happen?" Ino made out Tsunade's stern voice through the door and pressed her hands against it to get as much from the conversation that she could.

_What's forehead doing here...?_

"I'm sorry Lady Tsunade, it just-"

Another sound, this time it sounded like something slamming against the wall. The vibration from the epicenter spread to the door causing the vibration to run down Ino's spine.

"Please don't blame yourself Sakura, it's not like anyone would expect him to do something like that. He's more dangerous than anyone could imagine, Lady Tsunade we need to do something. We need to get him out of the village."

Ino's ears perked up after a few more minutes of listening before she gripped the doorknob roughly. She burst through into the office, scanning the room for the pink haired girl.

"Who are you talking about forehead?"

All eyes fell on Ino once she stormed in, but Ino's attention was directed to Sakura's appearance. Sections of her hair were missing or considerably shorter than the rest, there were several cuts and bruises on one arm. The other arm held up by a sling, her legs had thin red lines circling them as well as more bruises. As Sakura turned to face Ino completely she noticed her blackened eye that was swollen shut and the weak smile she was putting on.

"Foreh-Sakura... What happened to you?" Ino crossed the room in just a few strides and took a closer look at Sakura.

Sakura dropped her head and stared down at her feet, unwilling to answer.

Tsunade pulled her fist from the wall, bits of the plaster falling to the ground. "She was attacked," Ino's eye widened as she looked over to the Hokage, her mind flashing back to the glimpse of Sakura she saw in the alleyway. "I had Anbu do some digging around and they reported they found something strange in the record room."

"Record room?" Ino's mind was still processing the thought of Sakura being attacked couldn't find a connection between the two.

Tsunade's eyes zeroed in on the blonde ninja after she spoke. "The record room, the room where all of the files of our ninjas are kept. Someone broke in not too long ago and stole two files. Each of the files has a special jutsu placed on them when they're added. It's a jutsu created to tell false documents or copies from their originals. A jutsu only a few Anbu know so when they checked the room and found two files that were unlike the rest, it wasn't hard to put it together that they had been replaced with fakes."

Ino swallowed down hard, a bead of sweat trickling down from her hairline after remembering what Gaara had told her.

"_I got into the record room and took your file, along with another person's. And had someone make copies of the originals to replace them with."_

"It's a good thing you came here Ino, it saves me the trouble of sending an escort to get you. Because along with Sakura you are under suspicion."

The small pink pig Shizune carried in her arms snorted quietly from the corner of the room while Shizune nodded with approval.

"For what? We didn't do anything!" Ino looked back at Sakura for support only to see her head still focused on the ground.

"Your files were taken and as of now we have no real leads, but you two are our best bet to find who stole them and maybe who attacked Sakura. Also you may be next Ino to be attacked; you two will stay here with me until this matter is resolved."

"Lady Tsunade that's not fair!" Ino slammed her hands down on the desk in between her and the Hokage when she screamed at her.

"Shizune." The assistant stepped forward from the corner of the room quickly. "Take the two of them to their room, and give Sakura her treatment immediately."

"Yes Lady Tsunade..." Shizune turned to face the two younger girls, slipping a free hand from holding Tonton to gesture to the door. Sakura turned slowly and hobbled out of the room followed by Ino who cursed Tsunade under her breath. Tonton hopped free from Shizune's grasp as she bowed slowly and exited the room after the others.

"Sakura what happened?" Ino begged for an answer, but Sakura ignored it and walked after Shizune who had begun to head down the hall.

"Follow me girls."

-F-

After an extensive healing session with Shizune, Sakura was feeling and looking better than she was before. Shizune had said her good-byes and bowed before leaving, once the door had shut completely Ino jumped off her small cot and over to Sakura.

"Tell me what happened, c'mon!" Ino grabbed onto Sakura's arm gently pleading for answers. "How'd you get all those bruises, why weren't you in class, who were you talking about? It wasn't Gaara was it?"

At the mention of his name Sakura's arm twitched and her eye met Ino's instantly.

"It was him Ino; Gaara stole those files didn't he?" Sakura's voice was frail when she finally spoke up. Ino released her arm and took a step away from her, heading to the small rectangular window placed in the room. "Him and Sasuke, they have our files. They know everything about us Ino, they're dangerous!" Sakura moved to follow Ino before the blonde spun around, landing a swift slap across Sakura's face.

Sakura rubbed her cheek slowly a small red print forming. "Gaara is not dangerous; if you wanna put Sasuke into that category then go ahead. But don't you dare talk about Gaara like that! Not to me, not to anyone..." Tears rose up under Ino's eyes as she spoke, ready to pour over the lids.

"Sasuke abducted me in the alleyway and I saw Gaara down the way I was going. I know he saw me, so why wouldn't he do something? He just kept walking!" Ignoring the sting emitting from her cheek Sakura focused on Ino again. "Sasuke did this to me..." Sakura tore at her collar, ripping some of the threads as she turned to reveal the bruise on her back."

Ino peeked from the corner of her eye at the small dark mark, instantly being reminded of her own mark. "How?"

Sakura pulled her collar back up and shook her head slightly before plopping down on the bed.

"We were assigned to come up a mission scenario for training new Suna students, so we stayed after class once and..."

-F-

Sasuke ran the eraser of his pencil around in circles on his desk while Sakura banged her prominent forehead against it.

"Do we really have to come up with this entire thing? Why isn't Naruto here helping us?" Sakura slammed her fists against the table instead of her head for once, becoming irritated.

"All that idiot does is whine about everything, what good will he do here?" Sasuke halted his absent minded drawing of one-dimensional spheres to scan the blank page of paper in front of him. "He never has any good ideas, and I want this to be perfect."

"Mm... Sasuke-kun, do you think maybe we could go somewhere else and work on this. Maybe getting around will help us get an idea." Inside Sakura a devious plot to parade around the village with Sasuke was coming full circle.

"Sure, we can go back to my place." Sasuke stood up instantly and snatched up the papers they were working with for the beginning stages for their mission.

_Score!_

Sakura sat still for a moment, the thought that she was being invited to Sasuke's house finally hitting her once Sasuke had started to leave the room. She hopped up from her chair and hurried on after him.

Sasuke noticed Sakura's excitement pulled the corner of his mouth up and shook his head from side to side slowly. "Do you need to stop by your place to get anything first?"

Sakura paused for a moment, puzzled by the question at first. "Uh no, I think we have everything we need."

"Excellent, we can go over together then, ready?"

"Yes!" Sakura looked around for a moment as she waited for Sasuke to make his way out of the classroom before following behind him.

It was a short distance out of the building their class was held in. Down one hallway, down two flights of stairs and then out the main exit. Sasuke held onto his backpack with both hands as he walked leisurely to his residence. Sakura, nervous how well this was all going trailed diligently behind him. Trying her best to remember the surroundings for any later trips she planned to be making to visit Sasuke. After a while she gave up trying to take mental pictures of the buildings and was completely focused on figuring out her next move.

The worst part about this was Sakura didn't know if Sasuke even liked her, she was going off what she felt and what she wanted. For all she knew Sasuke could just be really friendly to let her come work with him. Whatever the case may be, she was determined to have Sasuke to herself.

Sakura ran through her mind all of the possible explanations of why Sasuke was being so nice, why it had been so easy to be invited to his home, and how this afternoon would play out.

Their walk lead them across the village behind several buildings, rarely walked paths and routes that aren't usually taken. They arrived at a small two story building that was similar to the ones lined down the side of the street. Sasuke lifted his foot and stomped it against the wall before doing the same with his other foot. Sakura nodded in silent agreement as she began to follow Sasuke up the wall. Making their way past a line of first story windows and a few open doors of other ninjas living in the building, Sasuke gripped a railing above him and swung over, sliding open the door that led to his room from the balcony. Sakura threw herself over then balcony railing and waiting patiently for Sasuke to turn back to her, then stepping aside giving her the chance to walk in first.

Sakura smiled sincerely as she entered his room.

Sakura turned her head to the right and slowly set it on an automatic system to survey the area quickly, but very anally. She glanced over a dark wood dresser with a mirror attached to the back of it, various bottles, books, and writing utensils were scattered on top. Next was the empty space between the dresser and his bed; a large king sized object that was covered in a dark blue comforter and three grey pillows. Even though all she wanted to do was stare at the bed and then send herself off to her imagination she slowly pulled herself away and continued to observe. She saw a small desk with an open scroll, a table light, and books resting on it. A large chair was positioned next to an open window, two sliding doors that belonged to the closet. She glanced over the room once more before returning her attention to Sasuke who had made his way across the rather large room over to the closet and had tossed his schoolbag inside.

Even though she was only here for Sasuke, Sakura couldn't resist the dulling feeling she got from the room. "Ever thought about adding some colour?" Sakura tapped her fingers against the bland wall to the left as she walked towards Sasuke in the unfamiliar territory.

"Uh," Sasuke's voice made it clear he was confused about the intent of the question as he had his head still within his closet. He took a small step back and closed the doors and caught Sakura in the corner of his eyes, after realizing the comment was about his room he regained his composure. "Yeah, I just like darker colours, they keep me calm." He took a few steps from the closet, running his hand across his wall.

Sakura made a goofy grin as she took her final step, keeping her eyes on Sasuke, seeming not to notice she had closed the space between them. She turned his head up to face him and spoke softly keeping her grin. "That's amazing." Sasuke smiled and let out a soft huff of air that smacked Sakura in the face; she didn't care, and closed his eyes taking in the compliment.

"Do you want something to drink?" Sasuke's eyes opened almost instantly and his voice was as stern as ever as his deep onyx eyes shone brightly at Sakura.

"Uh sure, water is fine thanks." She was taken back a little by the suddenness of the question, but was happy to accept the offer. She dropped her grin into a wide content smile as Sasuke nodded and maneuvered past her out of the room.

She listened to his footsteps heading down the hall and waited for the sound to die before she took her first step around the room alone. Wooden floors, tan walls, the room smelled like him, which was the best part of it all.

She tip toed across the space to the side of the bed, where she reached down and placed her hand down onto the pillow closet to her. She held her breath for a moment while she waited for a sound indicating Sasuke's return.

_Nothing._

She quickly snatched up the pillow and pressed her face into it, she was met with a familiar scent, this cologne, but also with a new one, she assumed it was his shampoo, it smelled like apples. She took in a deep breath and let her jaw quiver as she did so, she dropped the pillow back down where she found it and turned on her heels facing the dresser now.

She glanced over the dresser top and up to the mirror. She placed her hands on the side of her head, trying to contain some of her hair that seemed bent on sticking out. Her light pink hair that fell carelessly perfect around her face. She took a step back noticing the six knobs on the dresser, pertaining to the drawers within. She bent over slowly and grabbed hold of the two knobs on the bottom, pulling them out just enough to get a peek at what lay inside. On the right side, nothing but socks, white, red, black, blue, gray, all socks, and on the left were what looked like small towels, or wash cloths. She slowly pushed in those drawers and moved her hands up the wood until they met the next two knobs. Both full of shorts, she pulled back the side of her mouth into a slightly disappointing expression and stood up straight as she pulled at the last two knobs. On the left all of Sasuke's underwear, never before had Sakura been jealous of a piece of fabric, however this was a special case. She formulated thoughts about Sasuke in nothing but the bare minimum and smiled as she looked over into the right drawer. Filled with an assortment of items, broken kunai handles cards, papers, keys, but nothing special.

"Having fun?" Sakura jumped out of her skin and back a few feet at the alarming tone as Sasuke spoke, leaning against the doorway, Sakura eyed him like a scared child who got caught looking for presents. Sasuke held his arms crossed over his chest and watched Sakura plainly. "We're out of glasses." He pushed off from the frame and moved towards Sakura, cornering her into the space between the bed and dresser.

"Oh, alright that's fine, thanks anyway." She couldn't really tell, but she was almost sure her voice was shaking, she felt really warm and nervous as if she was going to be punished soon. "So does it get lonely living alone here?" She was losing the sense of cool and the confidence she believed she had throughout all of this. It was something about the way Sasuke was staring her down, it made her feel weak.

"Nah, I like it, but I could use someone to live with. I do like having people to talk to. I like having someone to be with." He took another large step towards Sakura, closing the gap between them as Sakura had done before. "Maybe you could move in, we can be roommates." A pink tint ran across Sakura's cheeks at the suggestion.

"Or you can be the servant, and I can be your master." Sasuke smiled and chuckled under his breath as emerald eyes opened wide when she heard this and took a step back, her shoulder blades reaching he wall behind her at this point. "Why do you look so nervous, isn't this why you came here, because you want me?" His smile turned into that of a villain, one whose mind was conceiving something evil.

"I know you do; I see the way you look at me during the class. How you're so quick to come and work with me during group activities. If you wanted me that's all you had to say." Sakura couldn't believe this; she had thought she was being careful not to be noticed and to keep her feelings for Sasuke a secret. But now she wasn't sure of anything.

Sasuke lifted his hands and grabbed the collar of his shirt, pulling it up and over his head; the fabric seemed all too willing to reveal his body. Slender, muscular, like marble, it was a dream. He tossed the shirt to the other side of the bed and smirked at Sakura. He took another large step and slammed his large hand against the wall to the left of Sakura' head as he let his body be supported by it he leaned in closer to her.

Closing the final amount of distance between them against the wall, between the bed and the dresser, Sasuke had her captured, and there was no escape. He moved his head towards Sakura and spoke directly into Sakura' soul. He grinned while he came in closer to her, his lips grazing against Sakura's, onyx clashing with emerald.

"Well here you go."

The next seconds of Sakura' life were filled with overwhelming confusion and the temptation to take Sasuke up on the offer being presented to her. "W-what," Her eyes were the biggest they'd probably ever been, "I-"

Before she could get out the rest of her sentence her lips were being pushed against by one of Sasuke's fingers. He shook his head slowly as he stared at Sakura. "Just stop."

Sasuke slowly shook his head and smirked. "Don't resist me." Sakura began to tremble as her eyes darted from side to side as she made a quick action, jerking herself out of Sasuke's reach and across the bed. She bounced and rolled around on it before frantically scurrying down to the edge and onto the floor. She pushed off from the ground with her hands as she attempted to regain her balance, making a mad dash towards the door, to freedom. She made it from the doorway to the balcony in one quick leap and made a messy leap over the railing. She hooked her hand onto it and swung around, as Sasuke's icy hand clamped down over hers.

Her eyes filled it terror as he slid his other fingers under hers, prying them from the railing, she kicked her feet unable to focus chakra in them to hold herself against the wall.

"Help!" She shut her eyes and put everything she had into a cry out to the neighborhood, but soon another icy hand had reached her. Slamming his fist against Sakura's face, the impact causing her strength to falter for an instant, giving Sasuke all he needed to break her hold on the railing.

"Horse, tiger, ram, monkey, boar, horse, tiger!" Sasuke's hands moved automatically after realizing how many people probably heard Sakura's cry. "Fire style: Fireball jutsu!" Throwing his hands down to his side, Sasuke leaned forward, a large fireball escaping from his lips, flying a short distance across the gap and meeting the neighboring building. Catching fire instantly it was the only thing the curious neighbors saw.

She was still weak when she had finally made it away from the house; she pressed her hand firmly against a tree, ignoring the bit of bark poking her skin, threatening to break in. Her knees were bent and she pressed her other hand against her thigh as she hunched over taking in heavy breaths.

After getting from Sasuke she had made a chaotic sprint through the village and now wasn't sure about where she was. She couldn't make sense of what had happened back in the bed room. She had no clue Sasuke felt like that, she hoped he would, but she wasn't prepared at all. She wanted to build a relationship with him, but she didn't know how far deep in she may have already been. Nothing seemed right to her now. She took in another large breath before forcing her body to stand up straight, a throbbing in her face adding to her overall pain, surveying the area around her.

Sakura caught sight of someone behind her and as she spun around to face them a large hand was slammed down against her shoulder. Crippling underneath the weight Sakura dropped the ground, the hand's pressure never faltering for even a moment. Suddenly Sakura felt an intense burning in her shoulder under the powerful hand. Fire raced through her veins, she tried to call for help, but her mouth soon met the other hand and muffled any attempts at assistance.

-F-

"Then I blacked out and I woke up back inside his room..." Sakura exhaled slowly, her chest deflating as the heavy story burden was lifted from her shoulders. Ino had remained silent through it all, flashbacks of her time in the forest with Gaara swarming back into her mind. "I thought everything was going fine, but then all of a sudden it was like he changed into a completely different person..."

Ino spoke quietly under her breath simultaneously with Sakura.

"And that's when I got my bruise."

-F


	7. Chapter Seven

**Disclaimer:** All credit for the creation of the Naruto franchise goes to Masashi Kishimoto.  
>I do not own any of the characters.<p>

**Notes:** Reviews would be greatly appreciated and helpful

**I **apologize for the three week long break since the last chapter, it shouldn't happen again. I hope this chapter is an acceptable comeback.

* * *

><p><strong>Constellation Love<strong>

Chapter Seven-Something Called Love

_"Freedom is never dear at any price. It is the breath of life. What would a man not pay for living?" -Mohandas Gandhi_

* * *

><p>-Three Weeks Later-<p>

Ino lay upside down on her bed, unevenly cut blonde hair brushed against the floor when she moved, while she counted the number of holes in the ceiling that she had made from hours of hurling a kunai at it.

"One hundred and twenty-six holes."

"You're not supposed to say and." Sakura had been gazing out the window all morning, only the sound of Ino's voice broke her from her trance.

"Whatever.." Ino pulled her arm back and threw it upwards, her kunai flying from her hand and sticking into the ceiling quickly. "One hundred twenty-seven." Ino yanked back on a thin wire tied to the kunai ring as it fell down back to her.

"You're going to cut yourself." Sakura turned from the window, placing her feet down on the floor from her bed and stood up.

"Maybe if I did they would take me out of this room and I might catch a glimpse of the village again." Ino turned onto her side and rolled over on her bed. "How can you not be sick of being in here the entire time forehead?"

Heat rushed to Sakura's head when Ino's nickname for her ran through her ears. "It is what it is, and when they find something out we'll be released. We just need to believe in Lady Tsunade."

Ino slid off her bed and stomped to the window, taking hold of the sides of it as it scanned the surroundings. "I wonder how far a drop it would be if I jumped.." Ino dangled her kunai out of the open window and let it drop, the wire in her hand soon running out of slack and slipping from her hand, down to the ground below where the kunai stuck into the ground.

"You're not leaving here without me pig!" Sakura slapped her hands down on Ino's shoulders and began to drag her back from the window; she moved one of her hands to Ino's face slapping her fingers over Ino's eye.

"Let me go forehead!" Ino was struggling to break free from Sakura's clawing grasp when she caught a glimpse of something outside. "Wait stop, seriously forehead let me go I think I saw him."

"Saw who?" Sakura released Ino and once curiosity took over, moved beside her to look out of the window. Sakura scanned the ground for someone she might recognize like Naruto, or maybe even Sasuke.

"Gaara…" Ino dropped down, resting her elbows on the window sill and propped her head up into her hands once she saw that fiery head of hair.

"Why's he here, trying to steal some more files?" Sakura felt like rolling her eyes at her fellow ninja, but her own desire to see the Uchiha overpowered that feeling. She crossed her arms and leaned against the wall next to Ino.

"I'm leaving." Ino moved back from the window slightly only to shove her leg through the open space.

"Yeah good luck with that.." Sakura's voice was full of disbelief at first, but once she saw Ino's thin form disappearing through the window she jumped off the wall and grabbed her arm. "Get back inside, if one of the guards sees you Lady Tsunade will be up here in no time!"

"Get off forehead! Why don't you just come with me?" Ino placed her feet on the ledge under the window, using Sakura as a point of balance.

"Because I-"

"Cause what? Because there's nothing keeping us here, we didn't do anything wrong. We spent three weeks in here and I'm not going to spending another three minutes in here with you." Ino yanked her arm free from Sakura's and turned on her toes on the ledge before falling backwards. "No offense."

Sakura threw her head through the window and watched Ino's falling body before it landed on a small sand platform Gaara had waiting.

Like the sand on a hill in the desert, the platform began to move and Ino slid down from the top to the bottom into Gaara's waiting arms.

"I missed you." Ino rolled off the sand and stumbled forward before she pressed her forehead against Gaara's, his arms wrapping around her body. He moved his hands upwards to take Ino's head in them as he craned his neck to plant a kiss against her lips; his venomous green eyes darting up to the window to stare down the pink haired ninja watching them.

Sakura scowled down at him with her own kind of emotion behind her emerald eyes before stepping back from the window and plopping down on her bed, unsure of her next move.

Gaara pulled back from Ino and wrapped his cold hand around her wrist and began to tug her away from the building. "We need to leave; the guards will be back soon." He turned and began to sprint down the alleyway, Ino struggling to keep up with him as the sand he had left behind slithered across the ground.

-F-

Ino threw herself up again the side of an abandoned building, catching her breath after running through the streets with Gaara. He was ripping away boards that closed up the shop with the help of his sand before finally making an entrance big enough for them to fit through.

"Get inside." He stepped back and watched their surroundings, finding it too good to be true they had managed to escape so easily. Ino peeled herself off the wall, ducked into the shop and looked around for a place to rest. The inside of the old weapons shop was bare except for a few dusty counters and posters on the walls. Slivers of light made their way through the boarded up windows and ran across Ino's body when she walked through the small ground floor of the shop.

"How long do we have to stay here?" She bent over and puffed up her cheeks, pushing out a large stream of air to knock off some of the dust off a counter. She fanned the air in front of her as the settled dust rose up, revealing just now long it has been since the shop's last cleaning.

Ino waited for her answer before she turned to see Gaara staring intently outside a gap in the boards over the windows, watching for anything. Ino moved across the small room to him and brought a hand to his shoulder, attempting to bring his attention to her. She pulled back on his shoulder, forcing his gaze to shift from the village outside to her; she smiled at him and moved in closer for a kiss. Gaara's icy hand left a hot stinging mark on her cheek after he slapped her.

"Tell me everything you and Sakura told the Hokage."

Ino turned her head back to face him, opening her eyes slowly, and the stinging sensation becoming familiar to all the others she had endured. Gaara brought his arm across his chest and when he crossed it back over the back of his hand met Ino's other cheek with more force than before. Ino's head jerked to the side, a slight shock running through her body.

"Speak."

Ino faced him again and simply shook her head when she opened her eyes once more to watch him. A fire sparked inside Gaara as he brought his arm back and brought it forward to hit her again.

"I told you to speak!"

Ino's petite hand jet in between them and wrapped itself around Gaara's wrist, stopping him in mid motion. Adrenaline ran though her system, along with the sense of pride and power that came with taking control. Gaara's eyes widened and then shone like diamonds, fury being the source that fueled their shine. With his other hand he took hold of her wrist and tore it away from his arm, throwing it back down to the side and slammed his hands against her shoulders. Ino staggered for a bit, the feeling of power she had being eradicated in an instant. Gaara pressed his hands against her shoulders and this time forced her backwards, until her back collided with the wall. Their eyes met and stayed in each other's focus for a moment, searching for something within two empty vessels.

Ino pushed herself off the wall, her body colliding with his as he brought his hands to the back of her head, limiting her movement there as he often did. His lips moved closer to hers as her hands moved on their own, exploring down the body she had missed after weeks of being contained.

Ino gripped the bottom of her top and pulled it over her head quickly and tugged down on her skirt, revealing her matching teal underwear. She dropped her top down to the floor and kicked her skirt off to the side with it. She dug her fingers into the bandages wrapped around her legs and pulled a small knotted end on both sides. One leg at a time she quickly unwrapped each set of bandages, not caring if she tore them, just desperate to get them off. After discarding them she undid the set wrapped around her stomach and slid the loosely wrapped material down her legs kicking the mass of bandages off to the side. She learned forward to Gaara, who in the rush of her undressing had tossed his gourd aside and had slipped his shirt down and was pushing the rest of the bodysuit-like clothing down past his hips. Their lips met and continued to collide against one another in messy passion as Ino helped him get undressed.

After working the clothing down to his ankles Gaara stepped on it as he tugged each foot out and kicked it to the sides. Ino latched her fingers into the fishnet material covering him and took advantage of the already weak clothing and tore it apart with ease, they pulled it off him like a vest and tossed it aside. Gaara's arms wrapped around her body as she leaned back and he nipped at her lips. The sensation she felt when she was being held within Gaara's arms was something she had never experienced before, she had been hugged, but never before by someone that she was so amazed and in love with. Their lips hovered less than an inch from each other as they exchanged heated breaths of passion and comfort.

Gaara opened his mouth slightly to speak, but Ino saw it as an opportunity and brought her arms to the back of his head, pulling herself closer their lips collided and it sparked a similar response from Gaara. He placed his hands along her jaw bone, his thumb resting near her ear and his fingers placed towards the back of her head as he pulled her in closer, their bodies grinding against one another as their tongues danced. Finding it within himself to resist her, Gaara pulled back from her catching her breath for a moment before he spoke.

"I'm sorry Ino for what I did before." Taken by surprise with his guard down Ino took control again and brought him back in to take his bottom lip in hers before biting down on it gently.

"I don't care." She spoke with airy words as Gaara pulled back for a moment. She bit down on her own lip as she dropped her hands down to his shoulders and turned him around and pushed against him until his back collided with the wall. His jaw dropped and he groaned as slight twinge of pain emerged from his back.

He dropped his hands to her body, one holding onto her side, just under her breast and the other he slid down her back, catching the band of her lace underwear with his thumb as his hand cupped her backside. Ino brought her hand up to push back her bang and the other trailed down his chest and stomach before she slipped her fingers into the waistline of his underwear. Taking hold of the material she gave them a quick tug down exposing the part of his groin. Their lips touched slightly as chills ran up their spines.

-F-

Ino dropped down to the couch, exhausted from running and then from her time with Gaara in the shop and wanted nothing more than to rest for a while. Gaara kept an eye on her for a minute while she settled down into the couch before disappearing up the stairs. He reached the top and moved down the hallway until he reached his room; he slid inside and flung his gourd from his back, letting it tumble down on his floor. He jumped onto his bed and took a few bouncy steps to the window, taking hold of the wall space above it as he jumped off his bed and positioned his feet to slide through the window. His body followed and he landed on a small ledge that was underneath a first story window. He turned back to the wall of the building and pressed his feet against it, he began to walk up the walls until he reached the edge of the roof. He gripped it tightly and swung himself on top of it; he walked to the opposite end and plopped down, and watched over the village as the setting sun cast an orange glow over everything. Gaara lifted his hands up slowly and held them out in front of him as he began to work his fingers in rhythmic patterns.

Sand situated underneath the Yamanaka house began to stir and expand as it crushed the rock foundation under the home. The sand ground up the rocks that had been stationed there, adding to its own before settling back down under the home where it had been for weeks.

Gaara sat still on the roof except for his working hands, his fingers never stopping their movements, controlling his loyal sand from across the village.

-F-

The morning sunlight coming through the living room window was Ino's wakeup call, she yawned and stretched out on the couch, her sore limbs shook as she did so. Kankuro's bare feet slapping against the kitchen floor brought Ino's attention to the opening where the two rooms connected and when the puppet controlling shinobi emerged, hand in its usual position scratching just below his underwear line, Ino let out a small giggle.

"Morning kid." Kankuro yawned and moved his hand upwards rubbing his bare stomach and then chest.

"Morning," Ino laid her head back down on the couch, not really wanting to be awake. "where's Gaara?"

"Last I saw him he was going to his room, but that was yesterday when you two came home." Kankuro snickered and moved down out of her sight and up the stairs. Ino rubbed her head and wondered what he thought was so funny. She threw her legs off the couch and stretched out her toes before she stood, her weak legs almost failing to support her in her first step of the day. She rose up on her toes for another stretch and heard the door swing open. She turned back to catch a glimpse of who was coming home, Temari entered the room with an expression that was cause for concern.

"Everything okay?" Ino decided to have a seat and dropped back down to the couch while she waited for her answer.

"No, I just overheard a couple of Jounin talking about some sand spies organizing a crime ring in the village. I'm sure it has something to do with the files Gaara stole, I'll bet the Hokage knows who it was." Ino dropped her gaze down to her lap and fiddled her thumbs together, Temari's voice hitting her like a ton of bricks. "I don't think it'll be long before Anbu and Jounin swarm this place looking for Gaara, you need to leave."

"No!" Ino threw her hands down and sprang up from the couch. "I'm not leaving Gaara."

"Why not? It's not like you're the one who stole anything, they let you leave the Hokage's office building so they know you're not the thief. You could probably just tell them what happened and get off with a slap on the wrist." Temari moved around Ino carefully, skeptical of her choice to stick with them.

"It's not like that, they didn't let me leave, Gaara rescued me and plus my-" Ino choked on her words for a moment before realizing what she was about to say. "My friend Sakura is still in there, and I don't want to leave her behind."

"Well just tell them what happened and get Sakura freed, no reason to put yourself in danger for Gaara."

"You still don't get it, I would never leave Gaara, and I don't care what he's done. He's changing and I want to be there for him. Everyone has always looked at me like I wasn't important or mocked me for being too shallow, but he's the first one to appreciate me and to love me."

"What is love?" Temari took a few quick steps and closed the distance between the two of them. "When he slaps you? When he leaves bruises on your arm? What about when he steals from your village just to stalk you down, or when he causes you to black out? I bet he's never even apologized for anything." Temari's voice filled with a trembling rage at how blind Ino was. "You're a smart girl Ino and you deserve someone better than him." Temari lifted a hand slowly and placed it on her shoulder gently.

Ino slapped her hand down on Temari's wrist, causing Temari to jerk her arm again and rub the slap mark.

"You're wrong, he has apologized and I know he means it. Gaara is just troubled and I know I can fix that," Ino's eyes darted back and forth, unable to find a spot on Temari's face to focus. "you're his sister, but you don't understand him at all. When I look into his eyes I see emptiness, sadness, and someone longing for love." Ino brought a hand up to her chest and held it over her heart. "And I'm going to be the one to give it to him, all of my love will fix that emptiness and I will make him happy and he will never be alone again."

"Gaara is on the roof..." Temari shook her head and turned from her, heading back through the door and outside.

-F-

Gaara's fingers had been moving faster and faster in the same pattern for hours, ever since he had begun this ritual the night before. The sun set and rose around him, but his focus never once faltered. He dropped his hands down near his feet and turned his palms to the sky, his fingers curling to resemble monster claws as he lifted them slowly.

"Di-" The sound of footsteps across the rooftop snapped him from his ritual, Gaara turned back to look at his visitor and watched Ino watch wearily towards him, her focus being on the roof under her feet. "What are you doing up here?"

Ino's head snapped up at the sound of voice, trying to surprise him by sneaking up on him had failed so she took a few steps closer before lowering herself down to the ground.

"Sorry I just wanted to see what you were doing." Gaara dropped his hands down as Ino moved closer and dangled her legs over the edge.

"Watching the sky and the village." Gaara turned his attention back to a single location in the village; deep black circles around his eyes only intensified the malice found in his eyes.

Ino looked down at the ground and cleared her through before speaking. "Temari said that Lady Tsunade most likely knows about the files now and that she heard some Jounin talking about spies from the sand. She also said that she assumed Anbu would be here soon to collect us."

Gaara let out a soft chuckle and smiled after Ino finished. "Us?"

"I'm not leaving you, so if you're running I'm running with you. There's just one thing," Gaara's eyes shifted to watch her from the corner of his eyes. "we have to free Sakura." Gaara nodded and moved his eyes back to the village.

"When do you want to leave?" Gaara spoke quietly, as if he was prepared for this day.

"As soon as possible, there's no point in waiting around for Anbu and Jounin to surround the place and make it harder to leave."

Gaara nodded again and turned to face her. "And what about your parents?"

"I'll tell them-" Ino paused, she had no clue what to tell them. She had so much conflict between them that she wasn't even sure if they knew she would ever come back. "I'll tell them something, I'm gonna go and tell Kankuro and then head over the Hokage's office to get Sakura out." Ino stood up quickly, the surge of power she had before had found its way back to her body and was fueling her now. She walked back across the room, towards the opposite end to the window from Gaara's room she came from.

Gaara watched her get further away and then turned back to the village, positioning his hands in the same way they were before she arrived. He lifted them slowly as he was lifting a heavy object.

"Die."

"What'd you say Gaara?" Ino turned her head to Gaara after reaching the end of the roof and almost dropping down.

"I said bye, to the village." Gaara kept his hands out and stood up, his hands moving up quickly with the rest of him and soon dropped them down to his sides. "Bye."

-F-

Ino raced through the empty streets of the village, she could hear the murmur of a crowd off in the distance, most likely gathering towards the center of the village. She wasn't going to complain, it made her job getting to the Hokage's office much easier not having to worry about which deserted alleyway to take to get there. She rounded a few corners and skidded to a stop as the uniform of two Jounin came into view down the road from her; she ducked off to the side out of sight and listened intently to their conversation.

"Yeah man but she wouldn't let me, not on the first date out anyway. She said she's got class." The taller of the two Jounin slumped sadly against the wall and the shorter one beside him let out a hearty chuckle.

"Class? That's gotta be a joke man, I hear she's a hoe."

"That's my girlfriend, don't call her a ho-"

An Anbu appeared beside the two men, causing them to drop their foolish conversation to take notice of the sudden appearance.

"You two need to head into the village's center, there's been a murder and we assume we're under attack!"

The two Jounin gasped in unison at the news and leaped off the wall.

"A murder? Where at in the center?" The taller Jounin demanded an answer from the Anbu and clenched his fists while he waited for it.

"The Yamanaka flower shop."

-F


	8. Chapter Eight

**Disclaimer:** All credit for the creation of the Naruto franchise goes to Masashi Kishimoto.  
>I do not own any of the characters.<p>

**Notes:** Reviews would be greatly appreciated and helpful

**I**f you didn't see the status on my profile I'm wrapping this story up with chapter ten, one more chapter to go until the ending.  
><strong>T<strong>he final chapter will be posted on Thursday January 19th, which is Gaara's birthday.

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><p><strong>Constellation Love<strong>

Chapter Seven-Burning Sand Wriggling Flame

_"All war is deception." -Sun Tzu  
><em>

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><p>Ino raced through the barren streets of the village, stumbling over her own anxiety as she neared closer to the flower shop. Constant waves of morbid thoughts weight on her mind as she ran, every now and then she managed to have a hopeful moment when she thought her parents could be safe. But the voice of the Anbu sliced through that hope with the piercing word <em>murder<em>.

No longer concerned about being spotted by someone in the village, she crossed into the main streets now, only filled with desire to reach her home as quickly as possible. From the corner of her eye she spotted the red paint that coated the Hokage's office, briefly her mission to help rescue Sakura crossed her mind, but it wasn't taking priority at this point. She dashed through the intersection and down a thin alleyway; it felt like fire was burning in her lungs as the run began to take a toll on her. Ino slid across the stone ground to a stop once she reached the end of the alley and rounded a small corner to behold the destroyed site of the Yamanaka Flower Shop.

All that remained were a few slabs of the walls that were no taller than Ino at this point, most of the debris had fallen down inside the shop and home to the Yamanaka family.

Ino slowly stepped forward, a small crowd of people that watched the destroyed building followed Ino's movements with their eyes. A few gasps and sighs were heard from the distance as she reached what used to be the entrance to the shop.

Ino's glassy eyes darted over the damage; the ground floor had almost been completely torn up and exposed what lied under the shop, mostly empty space filled with the debris from the shop and rocks that had been serving as the foundation for years. Ino lifted her leg slowly and placed it over inside the ruined home, mindful to avoid the broken wood of the walls as she climbed over inside. She edged her way around the gaping hole in the center of what used to be the hallway. Ino inched along what remained of the floor and caught glimpses of things that reminded her of what the home looked like; bits and pieces of the staircase railing, broken furniture fragments, and fabric she recognized from the kitchen.

Ino continued to move around the hole until she reached a large area of floor that remained somewhat I tact; enough of it was stable for her to walk across to reach the remainder of the staircase. Delicately she stepped on the wooden chunk that was the first step on the staircase; the weakened wood failed to support even her light frame and cracked her weight. Ino's leg sunk down through the wood, leaving only the top of her thigh visible, she grabbed onto the rest of the railing and attempted to pull herself back up. Failed attempts only caused the tears that had been building up in her eyes to flood over and drip against the wood in front of her. She gripped the railing gently, the strength she had to hold onto anything was fading fast.

-F-

Sakura paced back and forth across the room, concerned about Ino's safety and about her own when the door to the room burst open. Two Anbu stormed inside and scanned the room anally behind their masks; finally their gaze fell upon Sakura, the only remaining person in the room.

"Where's the other girl?" His voice was cold coming through the mask and it sent chills down Sakura's spine instantly.

"She-she went to the restroom." A lie she didn't have to tell, but it seemed like the best answer at the time.

The Anbu who hasn't spoken yet stepped forward and moved past Sakura in between the two beds and towards the window.

"That's a lie; we've been stationed outside the room the entire time." Sakura's heart skipped a beat as she glanced back at the Anbu who had remained in front of her. "One of the guards just saw something suspicious outside and asked that we check on you two, and it seems the other one escaped." Sakura questioned what the guard saw, but was lost for words and clenched her fists tightly.

"Stay here with her and I'll go alert the Hokage!" The Anbu near the window took a few large steps towards Sakura and to the door when Sakura's elbow slammed into his stomach. His protective body plate cracked underneath the force as he stumbled back, the wind being knocked out of him.

The stationary Anbu at the door brought his hand to his back and gripped the hilt of his sword, flipping it out and pointing it at Sakura swiftly. Sakura took a quick step to the right to avoid any head on action with his blade and brought a fist to the side of his face. The Anbu mask and his jaw cracked after the force of the chakra infused punch had connected with them. He toppled over quickly and met the wall while he tried to regain his balance.

Sakura tugged on his arm with both of her hands and swung him over, sending him flying into the other Anbu who was struggling to breathe. The two ninjas rolled over one another on top of Sakura's bed as she slammed the door to the room closed and flipped the lock over. Her heart was beating the fastest it ever had now as she leaned back against the door. The groaning of the temporarily incapacitated Anbu reminded her she wasn't done yet. She clenched her fists up once more, bringing a large collection of chakra into them as she walked slowly towards them.

-F-

"Go Uchiha."

Gaara stood still, watching the Hokage's office intently, his venomous eyes focused on the window that belonged to Sakura's room. Sasuke nodded and threw a few hand seals together before forming a circle by connecting his index and thumb; filling his body with the right amount of chakra he blew a large fireball from the circle towards the Hokage's building.

Gaara threw his hands outwards and rotated his wrists in circles as a long winding spiral of sand focused around the fireball, the two forces collided with the building and managed to create a large hole in the room upon impact.

Dust and chunks of the wall blew across the small room, Sakura flinched from the explosion and bits of broken glass sprayed from the window, slicing against her forearms. One of the downed Anbu wrapped his powerful hand around Sakura's wrist, she groaned under the pressure and the other Anbu rolled off the bed and staggered to the opening in the wall. Sakura straightened her other hand out and ran chakra down it, she chopped it against the Anbu's wrist, sending a small wave of numbing pain up his arm. The moment of weakness was all she needed to break free from his hold and charge at the other Anbu, she dug her fingers into the back of his neck, sending a similar numbing wave through his spinal column and leaped through the hole. Her legs kicked in the air, unsure of when she would hit the ground, but always prepared to start running.

Sakura collided with the rough moving minerals of a sand platform Gaara had situated outside the building. She felt her way around it for a brief moment, understanding the basic form of it and stood before she ran down what seemed like a long slope.

Four Anbu rushed their way into Sakura's room, through the dust clearing from the explosion they caught of Sakura's pink head disappearing out of sight.

"The prisoner is-escaping..." The numbed Anbu coughed through his pain as he lay in a heap on the floor.

The new Anbu stormed through the small space and dashed out of the room, meeting the sand they soon noticed. They wasted no time in perusing Sakura, falling into formation, one after another the Anbu raced down the sand slope as Sakura ran down a few feet in front.

Gaara held one arm outstretched as he dropped the other one slowly, the sand that was under the Anbu's feet began to give and the one in the back fell from the slope. The Anbu ahead of him wasn't far off and soon fell as well. The remaining two struggled to stay in pursuit, but once the sand under them dropped there was nothing they could do but fall to the ground.

The first two to fall helped the others up immediately and were about to flank Sakura as she prepared to come down from the slope when a figure rushed through the sand slope at its base. Sasuke Uchiha lunged through towards the four Anbu; the lightning jutsu that covered his arm was the last thing they saw before he attacked them.

The chidori covered hand ripped through the right leg of the first Anbu, the left abdomen of the second, the shoulder of the third, and the final Anbu was unfortunate enough to have the intense chakra surging through his heart. His last moments were spent reaching to tear the hand from his chest; Sasuke glared down at him, the cursed markings spreading over his face and slammed the back of his free arm against the Anbu's head. Tearing his arm from the fallen ninja's chest, Sasuke continued on his goal and raced up the side of the Hokage's building.

As he reached the top the roof of the building was littered with Anbu Black Ops, Jounin and the Hokage herself was standing in the middle of all of them.

"Sasuke!" Her powerful voice was enough to snap him from his mission as he turned to face her.

The young ninja only smirked down at her, before jumping off the railing and began to sprint up one of the stone slabs that stood around the roof. He reached the top and prepared another fire jutsu, several of the Jounin on the roof jumped into the sky to him, but their efforts to stop him were in vain as a large claw of sand swatted them out of the sky as if they were pesky flies.

Sasuke finished his jutsu and filled his chest with air as he called out. "Fire style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!" Fire balls erupted from his mouth and flew high into the sky. The Anbu were next to try to stop him, they surrounded him and threw themselves into the air to him. Sasuke turned to them, waiting for the chance to strike when the foundation under him began to crumble. Tsunade pulled her fist free from the stone slab and watched the crack she had made in it spread until it no longer was able to stand on its own. The slab broke apart and Sasuke on top of it fell along with it, the Anbu were pleased to see the plan work, their hands gripping their short swords as she were ready to take the Uchiha down.

Sakura dropped down from the sand slope and took a few nervous steps over to Gaara. "Why did you save me?"

"Ino said I had to." Gaara's eyes remained closed as his sand began to pool itself together at his feet.

"I'm not leaving with you and Sasuke.." His name in her mouth alone was enough for disgust.

Gaara opened his eyes and glared at the female carefully. "Ino said we had to rescue you, she never said you had to come with us." The sand at his feet began to crawl up his body and coat over him, transforming his features drastically, something Sakura had only briefly seen before.

A large animal like sand creature slammed its weight down onto the roof of the building, crossing its arms over its chest as large spiraling shuriken formed on the backs of them. Gaara threw his arms out instantly, a menacing growl escaping from the sand covered form. "Sand shuriken!" The weapons made from hardened rocks from the village sliced their way through the Anbu's protective armor and sent their blood splattering across the roof.

Tsunade clenched her fists as she watched her defeated Anbu fall to the ground, the while remaining Jounin on the roof struggled to stand. She sent a heavy collection of chakra to her fist, a few quick steps towards an unsuspecting Gaara was all she needed for the sneak attack to be effective.

She slammed her powerful fist against the side of the half transformed jinchuuriki's cheek, sending ripples across the sand. His devilish eyes darted to the side, watching Tsunade as the longer her fist remained connected to him the more force she applied behind her punch. He swung his large sand covered arm against her body that sent her flying over the edge of the building and into the village.

Sakura sprinted up the side of the building; several explosive tagged kunai positioned in between her fingers, and once she reached the top sent all of them flying outwards to Gaara. At the sight of them he threw his arm up to intercept what looked like normal kunai at first; he growled at Sakura and as she began to fall back down out of sight the swinging tags tied to the kunai activated. The explosion sent the remaining living Jounin and Anbu rolling off the roof to the ground below.

Sasuke caught a glimpse of Sakura before she disappeared out of sight and hopped over the railing before the explosion got to him and raced down the side of the building. He spotted Sakura almost towards the ground and lunged at her, his hand wrapped around her throat as they hit the ground.

"What are you doing?" He applied more pressure behind his hand, unaware the force was making it hard for her to answer his question. She struggled to pull his hand off of her throat, but settled on something else. She placed her hands on the side of his head and jammed her thumbs into his eyes; the unexpected pain caused Sasuke to bring him hands up to his face to rub his burning eyes.

Sakura stood up and dug her hand into her kunai pouch and looped her finger through a collection of wires. She pulled it out and pulled a strand out while she grinned down at the helpless Uchiha.

-F-

Ino wept heavily after she finally managed to pull herself free, she laid down on the rest of the stairs that remained standing, only the explosions and loud crashes caused her to think about something other than her parents. The screams of the villagers broke her from her crying session, she took a moment to take notice of the village around her, many buildings around were on fire and on their way to being burnt to the ground. The air was filled with smoke, dust, and what appeared to be sand, Ino held her hand out and was able to capture a sample of what was polluting the air, she rubbed it between her fingers and recognized the texture as Gaara's sand.

Her eyes opened wide once she remembered when her leg fell through the step, her foot had reached the bottom of the foundation and felt the same sand underneath the house. She closed her fist around the sand and shuddered at the thought that Gaara was the reason her parents were dead. She crawled up the few steps ahead of her and once she reached the top, leaped from them and hit the ground rolling.

"Gaara.." Ino clapped her hand over the bruise on her arm and took a few steps before sprinting down towards the Hokage's office building.

-F-

Gaara hobbled out of the village limping with each step as the sand from his half transformed state made a trail behind him as he walked. He cursed the village and all of its members under his breath as he made his way into the training grounds. Once there he began to walk in circles, the sand dropping from his body trailing after him the entire time.

"Hurry up Uchiha..."

Sasuke regained use of his eyes to scan the area for Sakura, catching a glimpse of her red dress standing atop a building. He tried to move forward to her, but soon found himself restricted to the wall by several wires that were stuck in with Kunai.

"What are you doing?" He yelled across the gap between him and the kunoichi, unable to see what she was doing on the building.

Sakura bit down on several wire ends while she laced tagged kunai through ones she had yet to prepare, and at the ends of those wires she tied a shuriken. When she was finished she held over twenty shuriken in between her fingers before throwing them all towards the restricted Uchiha.

Sasuke spotted the shuriken coming up couldn't do anything to stop them, most of them embedded themselves into the wall, and however two stuck themselves in his abdomen. He groaned as a trickle of blood ran from his mouth.

Sakura held on tight to the wires on the opposite ends and pulled them on them, taking away all the slack in the wires connecting her and the Uchiha. She released the tagged kunai and watched them slide down the wires to him.

The vicious woman within Sakura counted down as she waited for the explosion.

_5, 4, 3, 2, 1..._

As planned when the kunai slid closer and closer to Sasuke the one furthest in the back exploded, causing the chain reaction to begin. Sasuke's eyes opened wide once he noticed the severity of the situation he was in. He bent his wrist down and dug his fingers into the warm warmer material on his forearm; his fingers pinched around a shuriken inside and dug it out. Instantly he sliced through the wire restraining his wrist and arm, giving him enough room to slice the wire over his shoulder and soon he began to cut the rest of them. As the remaining tagged kunai exploded their effect caused the disguised explosive tags placed on the walls to detonate.

Ino witnessed the explosion first hand as she rounded the corner, the blast was strong enough to send her toppling over and sent a tall cloud of smoke into the air, and Gaara spotted it from his place in the training field and cursed the Uchiha name.

Ino limped towards the building where the smoke was thickest, hoping to find Gaara there, Sakura dropped down from the roof and rushed to Ino after spotting her.

"Ino!" She ran to her and wrapped her arms around her, Ino's eyes opened wide as she placed her hand against Sakura's back gently. "I just caught Sasuke in that blast and got Gaara in one earlier, last I saw him he was on the roof!"

Ino nodded and tore free from the hug, raced into the thick smoke and up the side of the building. Sakura watched her disappear and turned to look at the village, she spotted several figures dashing across the roof tops towards the exit of the village.

"Where are they going..?" Sakura watched them before chasing after them, following them through the village as they bounced from rooftop to rooftop.

Ino threw herself over the railing on the roof and scanned the cloudy area for Gaara, only finding a few bodies of fallen Anbu and a trail of sand leading off the roof. She nodded and followed after the trail, back over the railing and down the building.

-F-

Kakashi Hatake and several other Jounin dashed through the village, using various water style jutsu to extinguish fires before they spread too far as they made their way to the training field.

"How long ago was the report spotting of Gaara received?" The silver haired Jounin finished dousing a few connected buildings when he asked another Jounin in the group.

"A few minutes ago." The fellow Jounin pushed glasses up on his nose and eyed a report in his hands.

"Alright, let's hurry." Kakashi took off sprinting down the alleyway, catching glimpse of his female student skidding down the street, following something with her eyes. He wondered what her connection to all of this was and continued towards the training field.

Gaara sat in the middle of the circle of sand he created and waited patiently, the rough breathing of a guest caused him to open his eyes. Sasuke Uchiha hobbled closer and closer, burn markings covering his right arm and leg as well as blood and dirt.

"Get it ready Uchiha." Gaara stood and commanded the Uchiha, uninterested in his injuries.

After struggling to gather chakra in his weakened, Sasuke managed to light the trees around the training field as well as the grass around them on fire. He slumped against one of the tree stumps, exhausted and gathered his chakra together, knowing his job wasn't done yet. Gaara placed his hands together and closed his eyes.

"Play possum jutsu.." The sand that he had left from the entrance to the field and the circle around him swarmed to his body instantly, coating him in layers until he was no longer recognizable.

Tsunade rushed out from hiding in the trees that hadn't yet been touched by the fire and stepped up to the transforming jinchuuriki.

"Gaara!" She raised her gaze to the young man who was slowly transforming and then to the one pressed against the tree stump. "Sasuke! Turn yourselves in now!"

Sasuke struggled to form words to respond, he dropped his arm down to his side as he gathered chakra in it for another chidori.

A fleet of Jounin appeared behind Tsunade and swarmed in front of her, Sakura was next to arrive on the scene followed by a frantic Ino who was following the sand that was slowly disappearing. The one-tail jinchuuriki cast a massive shadow over the ninja in front of him as he blocked out the sun.

All eyes were fixated on the monster ahead of them; meanwhile Sasuke took the chance to race towards Tsunade, his chidori crackling as he rushed towards her. Kakashi leaped out through the crowd, his own raikiri colliding with Sasuke's lightning jutsu. The master and student countered each other and rolled off to the side, their jutsu creating an explosion after hitting the ground.

Shukaku brought out an arm and slammed it against its stomach; a large collection of air was forced from his mouth and shot out towards the village. The fires that were burning down the trees around them were blown towards the village with the blast of wind.

Tsunade threw her arm out the Jounin and Anbu who had surrounded her. "Go back to the village and put out the fires as quickly as possible!" Her brow furrowed when she spoke, the idea of her village being destroyed awakened strength deep within her.

"But Tsunade-sama, what about the jinchuuriki?" All of the ninja had followed the order except for one Anbu who remained by the Hokage's side.

"I'll take care of him."

-F


	9. Chapter Nine

**Disclaimer:** All credit for the creation of the Naruto franchise goes to Masashi Kishimoto.  
>I do not own any of the characters.<p>

**Notes:** Reviews would be greatly appreciated and helpful

**S**orry for the late posting and mix up with the scheduling, I was without internet Tuesday night when I was trying to post. Wednesday was busy and I hadn't finished editing.

**B**ut here we are the final day, I will be posting both this chapter and the final chapter, ten, today.

* * *

><p><strong>Constellation Love<strong>

Chapter Nine-Power of the Leaf

_"Pride in their port, defiance in their eye. I see the Lords of human kind pass by." -Oliver Goldsmith  
><em>

* * *

><p>As Tsunade approached the towering figure of the one-tailed jinchuuriki she controlled all of her chakra down into her fist. Her veins became visible as her nails dug into the palm of her hand.<p>

Those who were waiting for someone to make the first move stood in silence; Tsunade stared up at the massive creature, squinting to find his eyes. The chakra within her fist now began to overflow and was now swirling around her fist, ready for battle.

The large jinchuuriki swung its arms across the field ahead of it, hoping to wipe out his enemies with one swoop. But with a creature of such massive size, anticipating its movements was simple for the Konoha ninja. Each of them avoided the ample arms coming towards them and Tsunade took the chance to begin climbing up one of them to the head of the monster.

Tsunade leaped from the creature's arm as she flew to towards the head, the large shadow of his other arm covered over her and instinctively she began to flip backwards. Barely avoiding the massive claw of the monster as she twirled down to the ground.

Instantly she lunged forward to the belly of the beast and slammed her powerful fist into it. A large dent soon took form on the stomach of the one-tail, and cracks in the sand that made up the monster began to form. A booming painful roar erupted from the mouth of the monster as the jutsu began to fall apart.

"Gaara.." Over the sound of clashing weapons and lightning that sounded like chirping birds, Gaara's roar of pain caught Sasuke's attention as he battled his teacher.

Sasuke dug his hand into his pouch and whipped out several shuriken, scanning the trees around him, desperately attempting to find any tell of his hiding place. The snap of a branch and a small rustle of leaves was all Sasuke needed, instantly he spun on his heels and hurled the shuriken towards the direction of the noise.

Kakashi emerged from high above him in the trees, his lightning blade chirping loudly as he came crashing down to his student. The shadow passing over him as Kakashi appeared was the first clue to Sasuke that the obvious rustling was a decoy; he sidestepped allowing for Kakashi to slam his charged arm down into the ground. Sasuke took the moment of weakness to slam his foot into his sensei's ribcage, followed by a quick jab to his chin.

Being ripped free from the ground, Kakashi tumbled away and rolled off into the bushes where his hands came together suddenly and several shadow clones were formed all rushing out of hiding to Sasuke.

The young Uchiha prepared himself for the attack, but when the clones all covered their arms in Kakashi's signature lightning jutsu Sasuke changed his plan. As the clones flanked him Sasuke leapt off the ground and spun up into the air as the clones closed in on his previous spot. His feet met the underside of a branch above as he quickly threw together the appropriate seals for his fire jutsu.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!" Sasuke took a quick second to gather the remainder of his chakra up and send a searing fireball crashing down onto the clones, the smoke from their destruction filled the small area they had been battling in instantly.

Sasuke's sharingan scanned through the smoke for any sign of the other ninja, careful to fall for any more tricks.

"Sasuke!" Kakashi's voice rang out loud and clear, and too close for Sasuke to react effectively. Kakashi's fist pounded into the side of Sasuke's jaw, his feet still stuck on the tree branch were unable to let go in time and he simply staggered upside down. Kakashi dropped down, catching himself on the tree trunk and began to sprint up its length before he was at Sasuke's level once more. He pushed off from the tree and spun around, the heel of his foot slamming against Sasuke's spine, the raven haired shinobi coughed up heavily, finally losing his balance and was forced from the branch.

Sasuke spun out of control as he plummeted to the ground, unable to find and focus on Kakashi even with his sharingan. Kakashi emerged off to the right, his lightning blade aimed at Sasuke, but the Uchiha was prepared this time, within a second of spotting Kakashi, Sasuke pulled out a kunai and jammed it into the Jounin's neck. Kakashi groaned before Sasuke whipped around and slammed his elbow down onto the back of his neck.

Kakashi's body tumbled down to the ground before turning into a puff of smoke after hitting a tree trunk. Sasuke watched the clone disappear and cursed under his breath as he continued to fall back to the ground when he spotted the light of another lightning blade high above him.

Kakashi lunged off the branch shot himself through the air to Sasuke, the raven reached back into his pouch only to find it empty, his eyes filled with terror when he looked back to Kakashi who was nearing closer now. Kakashi too spotted the fear that dwelled within Sasuke's eyes, causing a moment of hesitation before delivering the finishing blow which gave Sasuke enough time to wrap his hand around Kakashi's free arm, yank him down, and slam his foot up into his throat.

Kakashi spiraled out of control and ended up crashing through one of the trees that surrounded them while Sasuke tumbled across the ground.

Sasuke breathed in heavily, his low stamina was taking a toll on his body with even basic taijutsu, and he struggled to his feet and threw himself up against a nearby tree. He glanced around through the smoke to find Kakashi in case he needed to prepare himself for another attack, but the Jounin was nowhere in sight this time, Sasuke was sure of it.

As soon as he began to relax Sasuke alerted by the rusting of tree leaves above him, he snapped his head up scanning the canopy for another possible opponent.

_Shit I'm out of chakra, I fight anymore.._

Tsunade sprang out from hiding first, followed by Anbu who had returned after extinguishing the fires spreading through the village and lastly by Sakura and Ino who were holding up Kakashi. Tsunade crouched down on top on a branch as she glared down at Sasuke, chakra rushing through her body to concentrate in her fists.

"Sasuke!"

The Uchiha looked like a small child to her from her spot in tree as she waited for her moment to strike; the Anbu surrounded her and prepared as well. Kakashi groaned as Sakura and Ino laid him down and began to apply medical ninjutsu, Ino's focus was shifting from Kakashi to wondering where Gaara was now.

She had watched how Tsunade's punch had destroyed the one-tail and the weakened Gaara had managed to slip away from the scene as the sand fell around everyone, and she questioned his next move.

"Sakura, Ino!"

The two kunoichi shifted their attention to the wounded Jounin to their master and spoke simultaneously when called upon. "Yes Tsunade-sama!"

"Leave Kakashi's injuries to me," Tsunade threw her hand out to the left, pointing at several Anbu who were standing still waiting for instructions. "you four take Sakura to my office and wait there." Tsunade turned her head to her right to command the other Anbu. "The rest of you take Sasuke into custody. And Ino wait here with me, I have a special mission for you."

Sakura and Ino moved towards Tsunade and laid Kakashi back against the trunk of the tree before moving closer to their Anbu guides.

"Tsunade-sama, what about the boy from Suna and his siblings? I'm sure they haven't gotten far." One of the Anbu assigned to detaining the Uchiha spoke up as his group leap down from the tree to surround Sasuke.

"When we get back to my office we'll assemble a search party for them." Tsunade laid her hands over Kakashi's body, healing his injuries faster than Sakura and Ino had been with their rudimentary training.

Ino stepped aside for the Anbu as they began to leap through the trees making their way back to the village, but Sakura lingered a moment and watched Sasuke be surrounded and taken down by the Anbu before she followed the Anbu back to the village.

-F-

-One Month Later-

Ino's green eyes dropped down to gaze into the sand surrounding her feet, the sand found only in the desert between Suna and Konoha. She took in a heavy breath and lifted her hand to rub her eyes, trying to avoid any emotional responses from this meeting.

"As per orders from Lady Tsunade I was told to bring you back alive. However if you refuse to come back with me I will end your life here and now. Gaara of the Desert, your time causing chaos has come to an end. As a ninja of the Leaf I will do everything in my power to stop you."

A dry wind whipped its way through the desert, picking up sand as it did so. Gaara's eyes widened as Ino's speech ran through his ears, his knees shaking along with his hands.

"You're-you're so weak Ino, where do you think you will get the power to defeat me. I stand unmatched! Why would the Leaf send someone as weak as you to retrieve me?"

"Tsunade-sama knew I was the only one who could get this close, whether it is with lies of how I left the village or if I had to track you down using every resource I could. She knew I would be the only one to find you." Ino's voice shook as she spoke; she felt no sense of power behind her words, all empty threats being thrown into a battlefield.

"Pathetic, the Leaf must be hurting for manpower ever since Sasuke and I destroyed it..." He snickered; proud of his own malice he caused in the village a short time ago.

"Sasuke's dead."

The circles that ran around Gaara's eyes expanded as his eyes opened wide as if he were reading those words in front of him.

"He was taken into custody, but soon escaped. His body was found near a river just outside the village." Speechless, that's all Gaara was at this point, his vacant eyes stared off into the distance. "It's over Gaara; I'm here to take you down."

He set out a small chuckle and turned his attention back to Ino. "Do you think I'll let you?"

"Sand Coffin!" His voice echoed across the small area between them as he threw his hand out. The blonde's eyes opened wide as she observed the sand surrounding her, and continued to watch as it remained motionless.

Gaara's fingers twitched as his muscles twanged after coming to the realization his body was drained of chakra. Ino slowly raised her hands together, her fingers meeting together slowly to form the signature seal of her clan.

"Mind transfer jutsu." The lone sound of a wolf's howl zipped through the through the desert as the two stood still. Moments passed before Ino's body dropped to the ground in a heap, while Gaara remained standing. His eyes stared down at the motionless body of the leaf ninja as his lips parted slowly letting out a quick chuckle.

-F


	10. Chapter Ten

**Disclaimer:** All credit for the creation of the Naruto franchise goes to Masashi Kishimoto.  
>I do not own any of the characters.<p>

**Notes:** Reviews would be greatly appreciated and helpful

**T**hank you for reading my first story, it means a lot to know people enjoyed it and that I finally was able to finish a story after so long of writing in general.

**M**y only other work going on at the moment is my Detective Conan/Case Closed story, In The Dark, be sure to check it out if you want a laugh or two.

**U**ntil we meet again, as always, enjoy.

* * *

><p><strong>Constellation Love<strong>

Chapter Ten-The Girl From Konoha

_"Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within." -James A. Baldwin  
><em>

* * *

><p>"Transfer successful." Ino turned her attention to his hands, looking them over, the hands that had caused so much pain. She shuddered at the thought of being inside his being when she heard his voice.<p>

_Ino._

His voice rang out around her, sharing a body with another often gave her the opportunity to hear their thoughts, but this time it was too close, this voice was one she was all too familiar with.

_Ino please._

He sounded so helpless.

_Ino please don't do this, I'm sorry I can't always control myself it's-it feels like there's something evil inside me._

His quivering voice almost broke Ino's concentration and control over her jutsu.

_Please, I don't want to die!_

Suddenly Ino noticed a change in his voice, it was rough, and it almost shook her from her technique. Instantly she threw her leg back, Gaara's moving in sync with her unseen action, one after another until the heel of his foot was resting along the edge.

_Ino please!_

His voice rang out loud in her ears as she pushed off from the edge, his body flying backwards into the air. There was no sound as they flew back, the panoramic shot of the desert becoming blurred as their eyes filled with tears. Soon the edge was in sight and before long the desert was no longer visible, only the jagged side of the cliff as they fell. Ino moved her hands together as Gaara's did the same slowly.

"Release..."

All that she could see was the orange colour of sand surrounding her; she ran her fingers through it slowly, the heating passing over her hand and arm. She pressed her palms down onto the ground as she began to stand up, swaying slightly as she did. She stared out over the edge to the opposite wall, imaging Gaara's frantic body, plummeting to the ground below.

"When you fall I'll be the only one to look away..." She turned slowly, raising her right hand up to cup it over the faint bruise on her left arm.

_I won't die alone... You won't... you won't kill me like this you bitch!_

Ino's head snapped up as something clicked within her, she turned her back to face the cliff edge slowly as the sand around her feet swirled. She attempted to lift her legs only to raise more of the sand in doing so, it now wrapping around her hips tightly. She felt reminded of the day so long ago when she was trapped inside his sand coffin in the training field. A higher sense of panic fell over her now as the sand covered itself over her shoulders, brushing against her bruise she let out a scream of terror as she felt herself being moved towards the edge.

Blood covered Gaara's chin and the front of his shirt, seeping down from his mouth while he exhaled roughly. Exerting all of his strength to manipulate sand as he moved Ino closer to the edge his body continued to fall, faster with each passing second.

Instantly she felt a powerful shove and her body was thrown and released from the hold within the sand as she flew over the edge of the cliff. She could see what lied below, only a thin river and banks of rock bed on both sides. Her eyes opened to their full extent at what she saw next, Gaara's body lying on an odd shaped form. A deep red colour surrounded him, his arm outstretched, a crazed look in his eyes, a look she'd had never seen before. Her slow movement out over the edge lasted only a moment before she began to fall fast. She waved her arms and legs in a desperate attempt to save herself only to continue to fall, faster and faster she approached the sustained figure who was the madman that was leading her to her death.

She neared closer and closer as she saw Gaara drop his arm and spread both of them out, inviting her to join him. As her body collided with his she released another scream as his arms wrapped around her. The pungent smell of blood filling her lungs, from her restricted position, head pressed to his chest, blood smeared across her face and in her hair.

"It saved my life," His voice, calm and raspy. "this sand, this sand I kept concentrated at the bottom of my gourd. Heavily mixed with the blood of my victims." He titled his head back as a chill ran down his spine. "Your blood is in here as well." Ino's eyes widened as she began to choke and cough from the odor of the sand "Can you smell it? Their blood, coming together into my sand, it's wonderful." His words didn't match his actions as he choked on the smell as Ino had done, bile filling the back of his throat.

Ino readjusted her head to look at him, his chin and neck covered in what she assumed was his own blood.

Suddenly she felt her position in midair, atop the blood sand, drop drastically. She emitted a shriek of panic fearing the end was near.

"This is it Ino, we lived together and we will die together." His arms wrapped tighter around her, his eyes filled with insanity as he tilted his head down to press a bloody kiss against her forehead. A small hole opened in the sand that was holding them up that soon opened wide as their bodies passed through it.

Alone in the desert, no one was around to hear what would have been the sound of the bodies hitting the rock bottom. No one was around to hear Ino's desperate cry for help, or Gaara's maniacal laughter.

-F-

Before leaving for the desert to confront Gaara, Ino expressed her plan to Sakura and told her that if she didn't return by nightfall to tell Lady Tsunade.

Time came and went and there was no sign of Ino coming back.

Sakura raced through the streets of Konoha heading to the Hokage's office as fast as she could. Upon reaching the building, the bombarded past the two guards and continued to sprint as she made her way up through the building.

"Tsunade-sama!" Sakura slammed her fist against the door to the Hokage's office and leaned against the doorway as she breathed in and out heavily. The blonde Hokage and her assistant turned from the window to watch her.

-F-

A small group of sand shinobi headed down a steep slope that connected the river bank to the upper level in their desert between the village and the forest.

"Why are we doing this again?" A young sand Genin whispered to a fellow Genin.

"Idiot, pay attention! Temari-sama got a letter from Konoha asking her to gather a group of shinobi, that'd be us." The young Genin spoke with a slight nasal emphasis as he schooled his partner. "And take them to search the desert for something!"

"Awesome! Are we looking for treasure?" The first Genin clapped his hands together onto his large prominent stomach as images of himself behind surrounded by all of his favorite foods ran through his mind.

"No! We're looking for a criminal, Gaara of the Desert."

The porkier Genin blinked a few times, the images of food fading away and being replaced with the sinister green eyes that belonged to the notorious murderer from Suna.

"Ma'am, I found something!" A tall gangly Chuunin chirped up from behind a small formation of rocks that stood next to the river.

Temari and Kankuro rushed over to take a look at the discovery and were frozen in their tracks when they got a clear view of what was behind the rocks.

There she lay curled into a ball, her uniform covered in sand, dirt, and blood. Her body was still and her face emotionless, Kankuro and Temari looked down at her, glazing at her features intently.

"Kankuro," Temari spoke up as she walked away from the site. "we're taking her body back with us. I'm sure Konoha would appreciate having it."

"Uh, sure." Kankuro reached behind him and pulled on one of the scrolls, unrolling it out in front of him before he performed the seal that summoned his large puppet salamander. He moved next to Ino's body and slowly slid his hands under form, lifting her slowly. Her limbs swinging loosely as he carried her to the puppet.

He placed her body gently down atop the puppet before connecting five strings to it.. "We're moving out, let's go!"

The sand ninja walked along with Kankuro, some trailing behind to get a glimpse at what they were returning home with. Temari headed off ahead of everyone and reached the top of the slope first, taking the moment alone to gaze into the night sky.

As Kankuro and the rest of the sand ninja reached the slope, interest in the body had faded and everyone was anxious to return to the village. Kankuro walked slowly with his puppet up the slope to avoid having the body slide off, but with each step the puppet made shook the body causing a crack to form on Ino's face. Soon the cracks met each other and spread into larger ones, upon reaching the upper level, bits and pieces of Ino's face were falling off. Reverting back to sand as they fell, behind the peachy skin complexion was a pale dermis. The wind picked up as they walked, blowing away the sand as the jutsu was undone, the discarded sand mixing in with the desert.

Gaara lay quietly on top of his brother's puppet, a deadly grin spreading across his face as they moved through the desert, back to Suna.

-F-

Green eyes looked wearily up to the moon that had hid itself within the clouds tonight. Dark marks made their way around a small dirtied face, starting from the forehead and ending under the chin. She wandered down the bank for what seemed like hours. Always looking up to see if the moon would reveal itself soon. What seemed like a lifetime ago Ino saw the moon as a protector, but tonight the moon hid itself from her view no longer watching out for her. Only constellation love shone bright in the sky above.

-**F**in

-To Be Continued-

* * *

><p>If you want to find out some details about the sequel be sure to check out my profile, I'll keep it up there for a while. See ya~<p> 


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